THE  ART  OF 

GERALD  MOI RA. 


HAROLD 
WATRl  N S 


Digitized  by  the  Internet  Archive 

in  2016 


https://archive.org/details/artofgeraldmoiraOOwatk 


THE  ART  OF 
GERALD  MOIRA 

By  HAROLD  WATKINS 


With 

SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS 
ON  DECORATIVE  ART 

By  GERALD  MOIRA 

Professor  of  Decorative  and  Mural  Painting  at  the  Royal  College  of  A rt, 
South  Kensington,  1900-1922 


NEW  YORK: 

FREDERICK  A.  STOKES  COMPANY 

PUBLISHERS 


PRINTED  IN  GREAT  B R I F A I N 


ACKNOWLEDGMENT 


is  due  and  is  gratefully  tendered  to  Professor  Gerald  E.  Moira, 
for  his  kindness  in  permitting  me  to  prepare  this  all-too-inadequate 
summary  of  his  life  and  labours,  who  has  given  me  the  opportunity 
to  see  again  pictures  which  were  in  his  possession,  has  allowed  me 
to  examine  drawings  and  cartoons,  and  who  finally  consented, 
somewhat  m face  of  his  inclination  (since  he  argues  that  his  work  in 
life  IS  that  of  a painter  rather  than  that  of  a writer),  to  add  to  these 
pages  his  “ Notes  and  Thoughts  on  Decorative  Art  ” ; to  the 
Editor  of  Colour  Magazine  for  the  loan  of  certain  blocks  and 
for  the  help  which  he  has  so  willingly  given  ; to  Mr.  P.  G.  Konody, 
for  the  loan  of  certain  photographs  ; to  the  Librarian  of  the  Passmore 
Edwards  Free. Library  for  permission  to  examine  the  Shakespeare 
Frieze  ; and  to  Mr.  E.  W.  Savory  for  assistance  in  connection  with 
the  picture  of  Mistress  Dorothy  Hazard. 

y.  HAROLD  WATKINS. 

West  Kensington,  October,  1922. 


CONTENTS 

Page 

Part  I— THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA  9 

Part  II.— SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DEGORATIVE  ART  41 


LIST  OF  ILLUSTRATIONS. 


Facing  Page 

Plate  1 . — Pastoral  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . , . . . . . . . . Title 

Plate  2. — The  King’s  Daughter  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  10 

Plate  3. — The  Meeting  of  Lancelot  and  Guinevere.  From  the  Frieze  in  the  Trocadero  Restaurant, 

London  ....  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  10 

Plate  4. — The  Boar  Hunt.  From  the  Frieze  in  the  Trocadero  Restaurant,  London  . . . . . . . . 12 

Plate  5. — The  Blue  Carpet  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  12 

Plate  6. — Ceiling  Decoration.  In  the  Library,  Unitarian  Church,  Liverpool  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  12 

Plate  7. — Ceiling  Decoration.  In  the  Board  Room,  Lloyd  s Register,  London. . ..  ..  ..  ..  14 

Plate  8. — “ The  Spirit  of  the  Sea.  ” Lunette  in  the  Board  Room,  Lloyd’s  Register,  London  . . . . 14 

Plate  9. — Panel  in  Celling  of  Board  Room,  United  Kingdom  Provident  Institution,  London  . . . . . . 16 

Plate  10. — “Justice.”  Lunette  in  the  Central  Criminal  Court,  London  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  16 

Plate  1 1. — **  Mosaic  Law.  ” Lunette  m the  Central  Criminal  Court,  London  . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Plate  12. — **  English  Law.’’  Lunette  m the  Central  Criminal  Court,  London  (from  a photograph  of  the 

Cartoon)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 

Plate  13. — Armorial  Stained  Glass  Window.  On  Staircase  of  Central  Criminal  Court,  London  (photographed 

from  the  Cartoon)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . • . . . . . . 20 

Plate  14. — The  Russian  Ballet.  Water  Colour  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  20 

Plate  1 5. — The  Crystal  Vase  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 

Plate  1 6. — The  Summit  of  the  Slag  Heap  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Plate  1 7. — The  Bathers  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 

Plate  1 8. — London  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24 

Plate  19. — A July  Day..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  24 

Plate  20. — Ferreting  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .....  . . . . 26 

Plate  21 . — The  Cornish  Floral  Dance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26 

Plate  22. — Lunette.  In  the  Music  Room,  P.  & 0.  SS.  **  Mantua  ” . . . . . . . . 26 

Plate  23. — Lunette.  In  the  Smoke  Room,  P.  & 0.  SS.  “ Medina  ’’  . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 

Plate  24. — Lunette.  In  the  Smoke  Room,  P.  & 0.  SS.  “ Medina  ’’  . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Plate  25. — Two  Panels.  In  the  Music  Saloon,  P.  & 0.  SS.  “ Medina  ” . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Plate  26. — Canadian  Lumbermen  in  Windsor  Park  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Plate  27. — No.  3 Canadian  Stationary  Hospital  at  Doullens  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30 

Plate  28. — A War  Allegory  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Plate  29. — Stations  of  the  Cross,  XII.  At  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  ..  32 

Plate  30. — Stations  of  the  Cross,  XIV.  At  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge  . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 

Plate  31 . — Three  Panels.  In  the  Chancel  at  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge  . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 

Plate  32. — Blessing  the  Gospeller.  In  All  Saints,’  Margaret  Street,  London  . . . . . . . . . . 34 

Plate  33. — Pegwell  Bay.  Water  Colour  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34 

Plate  34. — Mistress  Dorothy  Hazard  Defends  the  Frome  Gate.  From  a decoration  in  the  Council  Chamber, 

City  Hall,  Bristol  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 

Plate  35. — The  Atlantic  Ocean.  Decoration  in  the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  . . . . 36 

Plate  36. — The  Arctic  Ocean.  Decorative  Panel  m the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  . . 38 

The  Antarctic  Ocean.  Decorative  Panel  in  the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  . . 38 


A . - 


' ' ■ •I'-i  V 

■ ■'■m : 


PART  I 

THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA. 

By  Harold  Watkins. 


I. 


9 


HERE  IS  no  effect  without  a cause — indeed,  without  many 
causes.  To  try  to  ascribe  the  separate  and  dehnite  causes, 
however,  to  the  effects  which  are,  in  their  ensemble,  Gerald 
Moira’s  genius,  is  likely  to  be  a difficult  task,  though  perhaps 
one  may  find  it  easy  to  essay  some  broad  deductions. 

The  work  that  has  come  from  the  brush  of  Moira  declaims 
to  the  observer  two  primary  qualities.  First,  there  is  the 
delightful  and  competent  ease  and  grace  of  composition 
apparent  in  every  painting,  from  the  studio  study  to  the  great 
ceiling  decorations  that  cover  magnificent  areas  m splendid 
buildings  ; and  secondly,  the  glorious,  rich,  and  often  daring,  but  always  successful  colour- 
schemes  m which  his  conceptions  are  carried  out.  Gerald  Moira  is  as  able  a decorative 
painter  as  he  is  a painter-decorator,  and  he  glories  m modern,  unconventional  paintings  that, 
on  wall  or  easel,  vie  m their  colourings  with  the  grandeur  of  nature. 

As  to  causes  : the  first  of  these  primary  qualities — the  ability  to  build  up  and  balance 

the  integral  parts  of  a picture  to  practical  perfection — is  largely,  perhaps,  hereditary  ; for 
Moira  the  painter  is  the  son  of  a painter.  One  imagines  him  in  early  youth,  even  during 
the  most  impressionable  years  of  childhood,  surrounded  by  an  environment  essentially  artistic, 
influenced  continually,  consciously  or  subconsciously,  by  this  environm.ent.  He  grew  up 
in  an  atmosphere  of  Art  that  no  doubt  generated,  in  his  then  plastic  mind,  a love  of  the 
beautiful  and  an  ability  to  distinguish  it  by  a process  of  automatic  analysis  from  the  non- 
beautiful.  To  this  he  added  industry  and  assiduity  in  the  study  of  things  artistic  and 

appertaining  to  art.  And  the  full  result  of  all  this  we  see  m the  faultless  composition  of  the 

works  of  his  maturer  years. 

The  second  of  these  important  primary  qualities,  a quality  that  distinguishes  Moira 
from  among  the  ruck  of  contemporary  decorative  painters,  his  masterful  colour-sense,  may 
spring  originally  from  the  self-same  cause,  heredity.  For  m Moira’s  veins  is  Spanish  blood. 
Doubtless  the  inherent  love  of  bright,  gay  colour  has  been  fostered  and  cherished  and 
cultivated  during  his  early  life  and  training  by  himself  and  his  tutors,  but  at  the  same  time 
it  IS  impossible,  m an  honest  endeavour  to  search  out  fundamentals,  to  ignore  its  probable 
hereditary  genesis. 

About  the  year  1837,  the  same  year  in  which  Queen  Victoria  ascended  the  throne  and 
ushered  m a long  period  during  which  the  Arts  were  to  flourish  exceedingly,  a young 
Portuguese  came  to  London  as  a member  of  his  country’s  Diplomatic  Service.  This  man 
was  Edward  Moira,  who  was  then  about  twenty  years  of  age.  There  is  no  reason  to  believe  that 
he  was  a better  or  a worse  diplomat  than  his  contemporaries  and  colleagues,  or  any  more 
or  less  distinguished  than  the  average  member  of  a diplomatic  service  doing  his  country’s 
work  abroad  ; but,  however  that  may  be,  there  was  that  m the  young  man’s  soul  that  craved 
for  another  form  of  expression  than  diplomatic  verbiage,  and  it  was  not  long  before  he  forsook 
the  realms  of  international  diplomacy  and  entered  those  of  non-national  art.  He  became 
a painter  of  miniatures,  then  very  much  the  vogue,  and  “ The  Service  ” knew  him  no  more. 


Parentage. 


10 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


Early  Life  and 

Governing 

Influences. 


The  Royal 
•Academy  School. 


The  young  artist  settled  in  London,  where  in  due  course  he  earned  a reputation  and  an 
eminence  as  a miniature  painter  that  brought  him  a sufficiency  of  what  the  world  calls  success. 
Later  he  married.  His  wife’s  father  hailed  also  from  Portugal  and  was  a member  of  the 
same  service  that  had  brought  young  Moira  to  London  ; her  mother  was  a Spanish  lady. 

Thus  Gerald  Edward  Moira,  who  was  born  on  the  twenty-sixth  of  January,  1867,  is, 
one  might  say,  three-quarters  Portuguese  and  one-quarter  Spanish,  although  by  virtue  of 
the  fact  that  his  father  had  taken  out  naturalisation  papers  many  years  before  the  boy’s  birth, 
he  has  as  much  right  to  claim  the  nationality  of  the  country  of  his  birth  as  any  other  Englishman, 
and,  strangely  enough,  notwithstanding  the  ties  of  relationship  that  bind  him  to  the  South 
he  has  never  visited  either  Portugal  or  Spain.  But  there  is  the  blood  of  the  warm  South 
in  his  veins,  and  its  influence  is  everywhere  visible  in  his  art. 

From  the  time  of  his  courageous  departure  from  the  Portuguese  Diplomatic  Service 
until  the  year  1875,  the  elder  Moira  practised  the  art  of  miniature-paintmg  m London.  In 
that  year,  however,  he  moved,  with  his  family,  to  Chislehurst,  m Kent,  where  his  son  had 
opportunities  of  observing  and  studying  the  beauties  of  the  English  country  landscape  at 
first  hand.  Already  the  son  showed  every  inclination  to  embrace  a career  which  should 
be  connected  with  art,  and  during  the  ten  years  of  his  life  at  Chislehurst  received  the  first 
groundings  in  the  practice  of  drawing  and  painting,  his  principal  tutors  being  his  own  father 
and  Nature  herself. 

In  the  year  1885  the  family  returned  to  London,  and  Gerald  Moira  entered  upon  a 
serious  course  of  art-traming.  His  immediate  ambition  was  to  be  admitted  to  the  Royal 
Academy  School  and  he  set  about  realising  it  with  an  admirable  determination.  Not  that 
there  was  any  doubt  of  its  ultimate  achievement  : a natural  aptitude  and  skill  combined 
with  the  elementary  training  he  had  received  at  his  father’s  hands  precluded  that  ; but  it 
was  necessary  that  he-  should  qualify  according  to  the  rules  of  the  Academy,  and  he  began 
by  going  to  the  British  Museum  m the  daytime  to  draw  from  the  antique,  and,  to  help  to 
further  still  more  rapidly  his  proficiency,  to  an  Art  School  at  night.  Between  times  he  earned 
money  by  doing  pen  and  ink  designing  and  illustrations  for  publishing  houses  m Bouverie 
Street,  and  particularly  for  a now  defunct  periodical  called  The  Lock  to  Lock  Times. 

Coupled  with  his  inborn  ability,  such  unflagging  industry  was  bound  to  realise  its  due 
reward,  and  in  1887  Moira  entered  the  School  of  the  Royal  Academy  of  Arts  at  Burlington 
House,  where  he  was  a fellow-student  with  several  eminent  artists  who  have  since  passed 
away,  such  as  Byam  Shaw,  Frank  Craig,  and  Lawrence  Koe,  and  many  others  who  are  living 
to-day,  who  are  now,  like  himself,  at  the  top  of  their  respective  vocations. 

The  young  student’s  period  of  training  at  the  Royal  Academy  School  was  a long  sequence 
of  minor,  but  nevertheless  brilliant,  successes.  During  his  first  year,  m competition  against 
the  students,  he  gained  the  Armitage  Prize  for  figure  composition.  Here  was  the  first  tangible 
outcome  of  the  early  influences  of  environment  and  elementary  training  to  which,  up  to 
this  time,  he  had  been  subjected. 

At  the  end  of  the  following  year  he  carried  off  the  third  prize  for  life  drawing  ; the 
following  year  brought  him  the  second  prize  ; and  finally,  twelve  months  later,  he  succeeded 


Plate  2. 

THE  KING’S  DAUGHTER 
1896. 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


11 


in  obtaining  possession  of  the  first  prize.  Ultimately,  in  his  last  term  at  the  School,  he  fell 
short  of  the  coveted  premier  honour,  the  Royal  Academy’s  Gold  Medal,  by  the  casting  vote 
of  the  President,  Sir  Frederick  Leighton,  alone. 

Moira’s  father  had  died  m 1887,  the  year  m which  he  had  entered  the  R.A.  School, 
and  serious  family  responsibilities  had  devolved  upon  the  young  student.  These  he  was 
able,  by  dint  of  unremitting  industry,  to  carry,  and  when  his  scholastic  career  came  to  an  end 
and  he  was  free  and  fit  to  start  out  in  real  earnest  to  earn  a living  with  his  brush,  he  lost  no 
time  in  taking  the  first  steps.  Jointly  with  G.  Spencer  Watson  and  the  late  Lawrence  Koe 
he  took  a studio  in  Bedford  Gardens,  Kensington,  where  he  immediately  commenced  work 
on  three  portraits,  of  Sir  John  Staines,  Sir  Walter  Parrett  and  Dr.  Roberts  respectively,  which 
now  adorn  the  choir  practice  room  of  Magdalen  College,  Oxford.  These  completed,  he 
painted  a portrait  of  the  late  Lord  Jersey,  commissioned  for  the  Ancient  Society  of  Druids, 
all  of  these  portraits  being  entrusted  to  him  by  Phillip  H.  Calderon,  R.A.,  the  then  keeper 
of  the  Royal  Academy.  Moreover,  within  a few  months,  his  first  picture  was  hung  “ on  the 
line  ” at  Burlington  House. 


12 


II. 


First  Exhibition 
Pictures. 


T IS  a far  step  from  the  mere  painting  of  pictures  for  show  in 
fleeting  exhibitions,  or  for  sale  for  the  furnishing  or  decoration 
of  the  houses  of  the  well-to-do,  with  no  idea  of  what  will 
finally  flank  them  or  surround  them,  or  even  for  the 
ornamentation  of  a single  spot  m a public  picture  gallery, 
to  the  mural  decorations,  huge  m one  sense  and  great  m more 
than  one,  which  have  been,  perhaps,  the  chief  instrument 
of  Gerald  Moira’s  fame. 

When  Moira  set  up  m his  part  studio  as  a painter  of 
pictures,  it  was  as  a painter  of  pictures  within  the  ordinary 
meaning  of  the  word,  and  the  ordinary  gilt  frame,  and  there  was  no  thought  in  his  mind  at 
this  time  of  his  pending  development  into  an  artist  who  was  to  jump,  almost  at  a bound,  into 
the  highest  rank  among  British  decorators. 

The  successful  pictures  of  his  first  two  years,  however — ignoring  those  which  were 
purely  portraits — indicated  to  whosoever  had  the  eyes  to  see  an  ability  of  interpretation  that, 
combined  with  his  skill  of  composition,  were  sure  to  direct  him  along  decorative  lines  where 
these  qualities  would  be  most  surely  valued. 

The  first  picture,  an  imaginative  figure-piece,  was  founded  on  the  lines  : 

Thereto  the  silent  voice  replied, 

‘ Look  up,  look  up the  world  is  wide  .” 


“ The  Silent 
Voice.  ’ 


“ The  King’s 
Daughter.’’ 


and  showed  a remarkable  ability  in  the  painter  to  take  a given  conventional  subject  and 
interpret  it  along  his  own  unconventional  lines.  There  is  a quality  m the  picture  which  was 
well  expressed  by  a critic,  writing  at  the  time  of  its  exhibition  at  Burlington  House  ; “ In 

the  blue  moonlight,  close  about  the  dazed  and  doleful  figure  of  a seated  girl,  a ‘ silent  voice, 
or  half  perceived  figure,  whispers  a coming  comfort.  Weird,  haunting,  fascinating  it  is  as 
a page  from  L'lntmse  of  Maeterlinck.” 

The  second  canvas,  too,  which  was  again  hung  “ on  the  line  ” the  following  year,  was 
founded  on  an  extract’ from  a poem,  this  time  Swinburne’s 

Golden  gifts  for  all  the  rest, 

Sorrow  of  heart  for  the  king’s  daughter.  ” 

In  the  picture  the  king’s  daughter  sits  in  the  transparent  shadow  of  the  foreground, 
on  a river  bank,  solitarily  nursing  her  bitter  thoughts,  while  m the  background  in  glorious 
sunlight  there  is  a vision-hke  reality  of  turreted  castle  and  on  the  opposite  bank  of  the  river 
her  more  fortunate  sisters  bask  m the  sunshine  of  virtue.  About  this  picture  particularly 
there  was  a suggestion  of  Moira’s  future  in  its  decorative,  almost  tapestry-hke  quality  almost 
as  much  as  m its  large  size  and  the  admirable  and  expert  manner  in  which  both  decoration  and 
largeness  were  controlled.  (Plate  2.) 

Fortunately  for  British  decorative  art,  the  signs  were  accurately  read.  It  was  at  this 
time  that  Messrs.  J.  Lyons  & Co.  had  just  acquired  the  site  of  the  old  Argylle  Rooms  and 
Trocadero  Music  Hall  m Shaftesbury  Avenue,  and  had  erected  upon  it  a splendid  new 


Plate  3 

THE  BLUE  CARPET, 
1917. 


Plate  6. 

CEILING  DECORATION. 

In  the  Library,  Unitarian  Church,  Liverpool. 
1898. 


• ' 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


13 


restaurant,  the  famous  “ Trocadero.”  The  company  had  begun  to  create  a new  fashion  m 
restaurants,  gay,  bright,  pleasant  and  beautiful,  and  the  Trocadero  was  to  be  their  chef  d'oevre, 
their  masterpiece.  It  is  directly  due,  however,  to  the  keen  perception  and  artistic  flair 
of  Mr.  C.  W.  Oakley,  then  a young  manager  for  the  Company,  that  Moira  was  invited  to 
design  and  carry  out  a frieze  m the  entrance  hall  of  the  new  building.  This  work  was  duly 
commissioned  from  Gerald  Moira  and  F.  Lynn  Jenkins  jointly,  Moira’s  part  being  to  choose 
the  subjects,  make  the  designs  and  cartoons,  and  paint  the  frieze,  while  Jenkins’  consisted  of 
the  sculpture  work  of  actual  modelling,  the  selection  in  both  cases  being  with  the  hearty 
approval  and  co-operation  of  everyone  concerned. 

Early  m 1896,  the  artists  set  about  the  task  and  Moira  had  started  upon  his  successful 
and  distinguished  career  as  a mural  decorator.  This  phase,  when  he  worked  with  Lynn 
Jenkins,  the  sculptor,  m carrying  out  jointly  decorations  in  coloured  plaster,  was  to  last  a 
number  of  years  and  include  many  fine  works,  but  it  is  doubtful  if  any  later  undertaking  of 
this  period  was  carried  out  with  more  enthusiasm  by  either  of  the  partner-artists  than  this 
first  one,  for  both  Moira  and  Jenkins  were  tyros  testing  their  genius. 

Moira  went  to  Tennyson  for  his  subject.  There,  in  the  Idylls  of  the  King  ” he  found 
the  material  from  which  to  build  up  his  decoration.  Where  else,  indeed,  could  he  have 
found  a subject  more  suitable  from  every  point  of  view  ? In  the  delightful  “ Idylls  were 
romance  and  feasting,  love  and  kitchen-lore,  chivalry  and  glory — and  everything  of  the  good 
old  English  kind.  What  subject  could  he  have  chosen  more  compatible  with  the  avowed 
ideals  and  policy  of  this  good  new  English  restaurant,  solid,  substantial  and  honest  ? 

That  well-known  writer,  “ Tis,  ” who  interviewed  Gerald  Moira  on  behalf  of  “ Colour  ” 
a few  years  ago,  asked  him  a point-blank  leading  question : “ What  do  you  consider  to  be  the 
first  essential  m mural  decoration  ? ” It  is  interesting  to  note  the  writer’s  report  as  he  set 
it  down  shortly  afterwards  in  print:  “The  answer  came  pat,  ‘ Fitness  And  in  this  state- 
ment “ Tis  ’ showed  that  he  had  elucidated  the  secret  of  the  artist’s  success.  The  quality 
of  “ fitness,’’  which  to  so  many  is  immeasurably  elusive,  is  always  present  in  Moira’s  work, 
and  his  choice  of  illustration  of  the  but  of  the  Trocadero  from  the  classic  tales  of  the 
ancient  Court  of  King  Arthur  and  his  Table  Round  goes  far  to  show  how  thoroughly  the 
sense  of  fitness  rules  throughout  his  work.  In  his  later  undertakings  there  is  invariably 
evident  the  same  ability  to  apply  legend  or  history  aptly  to  the  case  m hand. 

The  entrance  hall  of  the  Trocadero  is  peculiar  in  shape.  Not  the  least  difficulty  that 
confronted  the  two  artists  was  the  problem  of  how  to  employ  the  space  to  the  best  advantage. 
Three  windows  break  up  the  South  wall,  and  here  narrow  panels  had  to  be  employed,  and 
an  archway  ate  into  the  frieze  in  the  Eastern  corner  of  the  North  wall,  but  for  the  rest  there 
were  opportunities  for  several  long,  almost  panoramic  panels,  the  whole  frieze  being 
approximately  six  feet  six  inches  m depth. 

The  long  panels  offered  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the  display  of  what  one  might  call 
“ general  ’’  subjects,  and  Moira  took  full  advantage  of  this  and  filled  them  with  big  and 
important  scenes.  There  are  four  such  scenes  ; the  first,  “ The  meeting  of  Lancelot  and 
Guinevere,’’  (Plate  3)  in  which  are  gallant  knights  and  picturesque  serving-men,  curvetting 


Beginnings  of 
Mural  Decoration 


The  Trocadero 
Frieze. 


14 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


horses  and  sinuous  drapery  ; the  second,  “ A Boar  Hunt,  ” (Plate  4)  alive  with  the  thrill 
of  the  chase  ; third,  “ A Banquet  at  the  Table  Round  ’ ; and  lastly,  “ The  Tourney,” 
glittering  with  all  the  brilliance  of  the  knightly  festival. 

Between  and  to  the  right  and  left  of  the  windows  on  the  South  side  are  the  five  smaller 
panels.  The  centre  one  of  these  depicts  delightfully  the  beautiful  Queen  of  the  Tourney, 
seated  on  her  outdoor  throne,  eyes  demurely  downcast,  while  about  her  wave  banners  and 
bunting  and  at  her  feet  is  the  wreath  of  the  victor,  upheld  on  the  point  of  a glittering  lance. 
Two  other  narrow  panels  flank  this,  and  two  wider  these  again,  the  subjects  of  the  outer  two 
being  respectively  a kitchen  scene  in  which  a pretty  kitchen-maid  turns  a spit  while  clouds 
of  smoke  curl  picturesquely  above  ; and  the  unfurling  of  King  Arthur’s  banner  in  which  the 
folds  of  the  great  flag,  emblazoned  with  the  emblematic  lion,  belly  majestically  in  the  breeze. 

In  all  these  scenes  Moira’s  genius  as  a decorator  has  enabled  him  to  construct  a vivid 
and  beautiful  picture  of  the  time.  Deeply  sculptured  in  relief,  and  coloured  in  the  gay, 
luxurious  tints  that  he  delights  to  use,  with  all  the  full  golden  value  of  the  glint  of  shining 
armour,  they  breathe  the  very  spirit  of  the  ancient  story.  The  hall  is  perhaps  somewhat 
too  small  for  their  perfect  display,  but  even  thus  they  add  beauty  and  splendour  to  the  richness 
of  the  building.  Looking  at  them  to-day,  one  is  forced  to  regret  that  in  the  twenty-odd  years 
during  which  they  have  been  in  place  they  have  been  allowed  to  suffer  a good  deal  from  the 
smoke  of  a big  coal  fire  which  burns,  the  long  winters  through,  m the  hall,  and  to  become 
considerably  obscured  and  blackened  by  the  frequent  London  fogs  and  the  grime  of  the 
London  atmosphere  that  have  entered  the  hall  through  the  constantly  open  door. 

@ @ @ @ @ 

This  was  the  beginning  of  a definite  period  in  Moira’s  work.  From  the  Trocadero 
frieze  he  went  on  through  a series  of  commissions,  working  jointly  with  Jenkins  in  coloured 
plaster.  Almost  immediately  after  the  completion  of  this  first  task,  m which  they  had 
proved  their  mettle,  the  artists  were  invited  to  execute  a somewhat  similar  work  for  the  same 
company  m their  new  restaurant  m Throgmorton  Street. 

Here  Moira  designed  a series  of  panels  based  on  stories  culled  from  the  operas  of  Wagner. 
Throgmorton  There  Were,  for  instance,  scenes  depicting  the  forging  of  the  sword  of  Siegfried,  the  Valhalla, 

Frfeze.^^"*  ^^d  the  Rhine  Maidens,  besides  various  smaller  incidental  panels.  Here  again  the  finished 

work  m deep  relief  exhibited  the  marvellous  ability  of  the  artist  for  decoration  fitted  to  environ- 
ment and  medium,  and  his  extraordinary  aptitude  for  the  interpretation  of  given  classical 
subjects  along  original  and  charming  lines. 

Following  closely  upon  this  came  numerous  commissions  for  interior  decorations  m 
private  houses.  One  of  these  particularly  is  worthy  of  attention  because  of  its  unusual 
treatment.  This  is  a frieze  of  small  panels  around  the  library  of  the  house  of  Hall  Watt, 
Esq.,  near  Beverley,  Yorkshire.  The  room  was  richly  furnished  and  fitted  m very  dark 
mahogany.  Bookcases  ran  to  the  lower  edge  of  the  frieze  and  their  supports  continued  to 
the  ceiling,  dividing  the  frieze  into  panels  about  three  feet  six  inches  wide  and  two  feet  six 
inches  deep. 


Plate  7. 

CEILING  DECORATION. 

In  the  Board  Room,  Lloyd’s  Register,  London. 

1900. 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


15 


In  each  of  these  Moira  designed  and  Jenkins  sculptured  in  relief  subjects  from  classic 
author  or  famous  poet,  but  so  sombre  were  the  surroundings  that  some  special  mode  of 
treatment  had  to  be  invented  to  provide  m this  frieze  the  set-off  to  the  environing  profundity 
that  was  desirable.  Moira  overcame  the  gloom  and  provided  the  required  effect  of  living, 
luxurious  colour  by  first  treating  the  decoration  with  gold  and  silver  and  then  painting  with 
thin  stain  colours  over  this  base.  The  result  exceeded  expectations  and  the  effect  of  the 
frieze  was  almost  an  illumination,  vivifying  and  beautifying  the  whole  room.  The  architect 
in  this  instance  was  W.  F.  Unsworth,  Esq.,  F.R.I.B.A. 


Then  came  the  Passmore  Edwards  Free  Library  at  Shoreditch.  Here,  at  the  suggestion 
of  the  architect,  H.  T.  Hare,  Esq.,  F.R.I.B.A.,  Moira  and  Jenkins  executed  a frieze  around  the 
entrance  hall,  four  feet  six  inches  in  depth.  The  subjects  are  from  Shakespeare’s  plays, 
“The  Merchant  of  Venice,”  “The  Tempest,”  “Macbeth,”  and  “^The  Merry  Wives  of 
Windsor.” 


In  1889  there  had  been  published  by  Longmans  a book  by  James  Walter,  “ Shakespeare’s 
True  Life,  ” which  had  been  illustrated  by  Gerald  Moira,  mostly  by  means  of  pen  drawings. 

The  book  was  one  of  the  successes  of  the  year  and  it  was  the  general  consensus  of  opinion 

on  the  part  of  the  reviewers  that  no  small  part  of  its  success  was  due  to  “ the  exquisite  illustra-  ij,Shal«speare's 

tions.  In  Mr.  Gerald  E.  Moira  the  author  has  found  a worthy  collaborator.  There  is  not 

a page  in  the  book  without  an  illustration,  and  every  one  is  a work  of  art.  ” I quote  from 

The  Standard  of  December  19th,  1889.  The  Times  of  about  the  same  date  was  even  more 

eulogistic.  Perhaps  a quotation  is  justified  to  emphasize  the  success  that  attended  even 

such  early  work  of  Moira’s,  when  he  was  quite  unknown  and  his  name  was  but  just  in  the 

making.  “ We  fancied  we  knew  Shakespeare’s  country  pretty  well  (said  The  Times),  and 

many  pilgrimages  to  Stratford  and  the  neighbourhood  have  made  us  tolerably  familiar  with 

it.  But  we  confess  that  ‘ Shakespeare’s  True  Life,”  written  by  Mr.  James  Walter  and 

illustrated  by  Mr.  Gerald  E.  Moira,  has  shown  us  more  beauties  than  we  knew  or  suspected 

. . . We  have  always  regarded  South  Warwickshire  as  one  of  the  most  picturesque 

districts  in  the  English  lowlands.  There  is  no  more  stately  timber  m England  than  the  oaks 

of  Stoneleigh  or  the  elms  of  Charlcote.  The  streams,  though  sluggish,  are  enamelled  with 

water-lilies,  and  their  winding  reaches  lose  themselves  in  bosky  bowers  of  the  alder  and  the 

willow  interwoven  with  the  bramble.  The  lanes,  with  the  wear  of  immemorial  traffic,  have 

often  sunk  out  of  sight  between  high  banks  draped  with  ground-ivy,  like  those  of  Brittany, 

and  the  villages,  burled  among  hedgerows  and  embowered  in  orchards,  come  upon  you  at 

the  sudden  turns  in  a series  of  enchanting  surprises.  As  for  the  cottages,  such  as  that  of 

Ann  Hathaway  at  Shottery  and  of  Mary  Arden  at  Wilmcote,  they  would  appear  to  have  been 

built  for  all  time.  The  great  blackened  beams  that  form  the  framework  harden  rather  than 

decay  with  age,  and  as  for  the  thatch,  it  used  to  be  the  fashion  of  the  olden  time  to  put  a wagon 

load  of  wheat  straw  into  a single  gable  end.  All  that,  with  very  much  more  besides,  Mr. 

Moira  has  put  into  this  fascinating  volume  . . . Turn  which  way  we  will,  in  following 
Mr.  Moira  we  cannot  go  wrong.  ” 


16 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


Frieze  in 

Passmore  Eidwards 
Free  Library, 
Shoreditch. 


The  Passmore  Edwards  Library  frieze,  however,  was  a horse  of  a different  colour.  Here, 
in  four  scenes,  in  the  comparatively  intractable  medium  of  coloured  plaster,  he  had  to  construct 
what  amounted  to  a suitable  introduction  to  the  wide  realms  of  literature  and  at  the  same 
time  build  a decoration  that  should  render  a beautiful  entrance  hall  yet  more  beautiful.  Thus, 
aptly,  he  selected  comedy  and  tragedy,  tragi -comedy  and  comic-tragedy.  The  longest  panel, 
as  befits  a scene  that  represents  the  moment  of  the  consummation  of  justice,  evil  designs 
frustrated,  generosity  and  courage  triumphant,  is  given  to  that  moment  in  “ The  Merchant 
of  Venice  ’’  when  Portia,  gazing  into  the  eyes  of  the  vengeful  few,  iterates  : 

Take  then  thy  bond,  thy  pound  of  flesh  ; 

But,  in  the  cutting  it,  if  thou  dost  shed- 
One  drop  of  Christian  blood,  thy  lands  and  goods 
Are,  by  the  laws  of  Venice,  confiscate 
Unto  the  state  of  Venice.  ” 

The  Duke  of  Venice,  dignity  in  his  countenance  and  in  every  fold  of  his  gorgeous  robes, 
sits  in  the  centre  of  the  piece,  Portia  on  his  right.  Shylock,  horror  dawning  upon  his  features, 
leans  upon  a staff  to  the  right  of  the  panel.  Bassanio,  Antonio,  Gratiano,  Nerissa  and  officers 
of  the  court  stand  or  sit,  singly  or  in  groups,  on  every  honest  face  the  reflection  of  joy  in  the 
“ consummation  much  to  be  desired  ” and  the  final  triumph  of  justice.  The  whole  scene  is 
so  admirably  drawn,  so  excellently  placed  and,  more,  so  ably  and  yet  gaily  coloured  that  it 
IS  difficult  to  imagine  a more  pleasing  and  satisfactory  interpretation  of  the  centuries-old 
story  than  this  sculptured  panel  twenty  feet  by  four  and  a half  which  commands  the  staircase 
of  the  Library. 

To  the  left  of  this  and  facing  the  door  of  the  Hall  is  that  scene  of  mirth  from  “ The  Merry 
Wives  of  Windsor  ” in  which  the  bearded  and  corpulent  Falstaff,  disguised  as  the  old  woman 
of  Brentford,  runs  the  gauntlet  of  the  suspicious  husbands.  The  flirtatious  knight  is  the  centre 
of  a group,  surrounded  by  the  five  men,  while  Mrs.  Page,  on  the  left  of  the  panel,  leans  forward 
beckoning  : 

“ Come,  Mother  Prat,  come  give  me  thy  hand,” 

a smile  of  cynical  amusement  graven  on  her  features  ; and  so  faithfully  is  Falstaff  portrayed 
that,  looking  at  this  frieze,  one  actually  feels  the  old  man’s  discomfort  in  his  ungainly  dress 
and  sees  m his  hobbling  attitude  his  inward  perturbation  and  difficulty  m maintaining  the 
foolish  part  as  the  jealous  Ford’s  blows  rain  upon  his  unprotestmg  back. 

Opposite  this  again  is  that  dramatic  banquet  scene  from  **  Macbeth  ” where  the  new 
king,  Macbeth,  distraught  with  fear,  addresses  the  apparition  of  his  murdered  predecessor  : 

” Avaunt  ! and  quit  my  sight  ! let  the  earth  hide  thee  ! 

Thy  bones  are  marrowless,  thy  blood  is  cold  ; 

. Thou  hast  no  speculation  in  those  eyes 

Which  thou  dost  glare  with  ! ” 

Finally,  above  the  remaining  wall  is  depicted,  m glowing  colour  and  with  delicate  treat- 
ment, that  whinrsical  “ Tempest  ” scene  : 

“ Misery  acquaints  a man  with  strange  bedfellows.” 


Panel  in  Ceiling  ol  Board  Room,  United  Kingdom  Provident  Institution,  London. 

1901. 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


17 


Looking  at  the  frieze  as  a whole,  one  is  struck  by  the  wide,  all-inclusive  range  of  its  appeal, 
and  at  the  same  moment  by  its  decorative  beauty.  Unfortunately,  such  coloured  plaster 
work  cannot  adequately  be  displayed  except  in  very  large  rooms  or  halls,  and  neither 
the  Trocadero,  the  Throgmorton  Restaurant,  nor  the  Passmore  Edwards  Free  Library  really 
offers  that  ideal  opportunity  for  the  setting  which  would  bring  these  charming  and  powerful 
friezes  the  appreciation  of  which  they  are  certainly  worthy  for  the  breadth  of  their  conception 
and  the  excellence  of  their  execution.  Moreover,  instead  of  being  cast  in  plaster,  one  regrets 
that  they  were  not  modelled  in  some  more  substantial  and  permanent  medium. 


III. 


End  of 

Coloured  Piaster 
Period. 


Unitarian  Church, 
Liverpool. 


URING  the  next  few  years,  Gerald  Moira  turned  his  skill  of 
hand  and  eye  to  many  different  forms  and  media  of  applied 
decoration.  He  designed  and  executed  windows  m stained 
glass  and  panels  m mosaic ; he  painted  walls  or  ceilings, 
exteriors  or  interiors,  friezes  or  lunettes  for  such  widely  diverse 
buildings  and  purposes  as  a Liverpool  church,  business  offices 
m the  Gity  of  London,  ocean  liners,  private  houses,  an 
exhibition  pavilion  m Pans,  and  the  Central  Criminal  Court 
m Old  Bailey,  for  Moira’s  art  is  as  versatile  as  it  is  apt,  as  wide 
as  it  IS  original.  After  he  had  found  himself  in  the  coloured 
plaster  work  already  described,  he  went  on  from  success  to  greater  success. 

In  addition  to  all  this  he  was  painting  easel  pictures. 

The  period  when  Lynn  Jenkins  and  himself  collaborated  in  coloured  plaster  really  came 
to  an  end  with  the  completion  of  the  frieze  in  the  Free  Library  at  Shoreditch,  although  the 
two  artists  continued  to  share  the  same  studio  for  some  time,  and  the  next  important  under- 
taking tackled  by  Moira  was  his  exclusive  work.  This  was  the  decoration  of  the  Library 
and  Vestry  of  the  Unitarian  Church  at  Ullet  Road,  Liverpool,  a work  he  carried  out  with 
great  distinction,  and  the  one  which  was  probably  the  mam  avenue  to  his  appointment  m 
September,  1900,  as  Professor  of  Mural  and  Decorative  Painting  at  the  Royal  College  of 
Art  m South  Kensington,  a post  he  has  filled  with  great  credit  and  eclat  for  twenty-two  years. 

The  Library  and  Vestry  of  this  Church  were  the  gift  of  the  late  Sir  John  Brunner,  Bart. 
The  actual  work  given  to  Moira  was  a decorated  frieze  around  the  Library,  which  he  designed, 
modelled  and  painted  entirely  alone  ; the  ceiling  of  the  Library,  a great  barrelled  roof  about 
forty  feet  long  and  divided  by  rafters  into  three  bays  ; and,  in  the  vestry  of  the  building, 
the  ceiling  and  a large  panel  above  the  fireplace.  All  this  took  nearly  three  years  to  do. 

The  Library  ceiling  represented  the  chief  part  of  the  work  (Plate  6).  The  scheme  is 
unconventionally  allegorical,  yet  eminently  suited  to  its  purpose  and  wholly  sound  artistically 
and  technically.  The  Earth,  occupying  a large  portion  of  the  ceiling,  is  broadly  treated. 
Above  it  and  m the  centre  is  the  flaming  sun  of  Perpetual  Light,  his  rays  darting  m all 
directions  ; opposite  the  Earth  a great  figure  of  Time,  raising  into  the  air  a beautiful  woman. 
Truth.  In  the  two  hands  of  Truth  are  held  respectively  a lamp  and  a mirror.  Beneath  her, 
four  figures  strive  unsuccessfully  towards  her.  These  are  the  four  enemies  of  Truth,  the 
cardinal  vices.  Ignorance,  Envy,  Superstition  and  Jealousy,  from  whose  attacks  Time  now 
rescues  her. 

Grouped  upon  the  Earth  and  m Space  are  numerous  figures,  some  of  them  portrait 
figures  and  others  allegorically  represented,  of  many  great  men  and  women,  important 
representatives  of  humanity  m all  departments  of  human  activity,  irrespective  of  creed  or 
country,  who  look  upon  the  triumph  of  Truth  assisted  by  Time,  Light  and  Knowledge,  a 
triumph  towards  which  all  of  them  m their  own  lives  have  laboured  unceasingly.  Among 
them  are  David,  Moses,  Solomon,  Plato,  Aristotle,  Homer,  Dante,  Shakespeare,  Milton, 
Faraday,  Newton,  Phidias,  Gallileo,  Leonardo  da  Vmci,  and  many  others.  Following  an  old 


V.-' 


• ' /.V  - 


t' 


B 

O 

'^1 

Xl 

— d 5 ? 

« Z I rs 
CL.  : — 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


19 


tradition  of  medi2Eval  and  Renaissance  painters  Moira  included  also  the  donor,  Sir  John 
Brunner,  among  them. 

Dark  clouds  interrupt  the  beneficent  rays  of  Light  m Space,  and  rocks  break  up  an 
otherwise  smooth  and  lovely  sea.  From  the  lamp  grasped  m the  hand  of  Truth  long  slender 
lines  curve  and  curl  gracefully  about  all  these  figures,  binding  and  connecting  them  and 
signifying  their  common  destiny  and  purpose. 

This  ceiling  is  wonderful  m its  conception  and  brilliant  m its  execution  ; rich  m its 
painting  and  universal  m its  appeal  ; a sermon  and  a parable  as  befits  a Church  ; a thing 
of  beauty  as  befits  a splendid  building. 

The  ceiling  of  the  Vestry  is  divided  into  four  triangular  spaces,  which  are  filled  by  four 
pictures,  representing  respectively  Justice,  Prudence,  Temperance  and  Charity,  each  of  these 
subjects  being  treated  conventionally  but  with  striking  and  beautiful  effect.  Beneath  this  is 
a picture  of  the  flaming  sun  rising  majestically  above  the  horizon.  Finally,  a lunette  at  one 
end  of  the  Library  roof  bears  a Tree  of  Knowledge,  with  the  names  of  more  of  Life’s  leading 
representatives  inscribed  upon  its  fruit. 

s s s s s 


Following  the  completion  of  this  magnificent  decoration,  Moira’s  attention  was  diverted 
into  a very  different  channel.  In  1899,  Mr.  T.  E.  Collcutt,  F.R.I.B.A.,  was  building  a Pavilion 
for  the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Steamship  Company  at  the  International  Exhibition  at  Paris. 
He  invited  Gerald  Moira  to  decorate  it.  In  January,  1900,  the  artist  therefore  went  to  Paris 
and  in  the  short  space  of  time  between  then  and  May  of  that  year  performed  prodigies  of 
labour  : for  Moira,  if  necessity  demands  it,  is  capable  of  designing  and  painting  tremendous 
mural  decorations  m a very  short  period,  and,  extraordinary  as  it  may  seem,  although  done 
so  rapidly  they  bear  all  the  hall-marks  of  excellence  and  fine  art. 

This  Pavilion  involved  both  exterior  and  interior  decoration.  Outside  was  a coloured 
decoration  under  the  loggia  entrance  and  a coloured  plaster  relief  around  the  central  dome. 
(This  was,  I believe,  the  last  coloured  plaster  relief  done  by  Moira,  and  incidentally  the  last 
occasion  in  which  he  collaborated  with  Lynn  Jenkins.)  Inside  the  building  he  painted  panels 
in  the  large  dome  and  the  pendentives,  and  there  were  two  large  lunettes.  More- 
over, he  became  responsible  for  and  supervised  the  whole  of  the  internal  colour  scheme  of  the 
Pavilion. 

Looking  back  over  work  of  this  kind,  it  seems  a thousand  pities  that  it  is  invariably  doomed 
so  soon  to  destruction  ; that  though  the  most  wonderful  gem  may  be  transferred  from  the 
creative  brain  of  a great  artist  with  all  the  skill  and  technique  of  his  experience  and  genius,  it  must 
perish  when  its  immediate  purpose  is  fulfilled  and  the  building  is  demolished  to  make  room 
for  something  else,  its  life  being  often  only  a few  months.  On  the  other  hand,  one  is  consoled 
by  the  thought  that  the  application  of  ability  and  skill  can  be  used  to  make  even  the  most 
transitory  building  beautiful,  and,  although  the  work  itself  may  not  last,  its  influence  remains  to 
add  to  the  general  sum  of  effects  of  beauty  upon  those  who  have  been  privileged  to  enjoy  it. 

@ @ @ 


P.  & 0.  Pavilion, 
International 
Exhibition,  Paris 


20 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


Lloyd’s  Register, 
London. 


The  successful  Unitarian  Church  ceiling  at  Liverpool  soon  brought  Gerald  Moira  a 
similar  commission,  this  time  m the  city  of  London.  Mr.  Collcutt,  who  had  already  put 
a considerable  amount  of  work  m his  way  m connection  with  the  Pans  Pavilion  and  the  saloons 
of  certain  P.  & 0.  steamships  (with  which  we  will  deal  more  fully  later),  was  engaged  on  new 
offices  for  Lloyd’s  Register,  and  Professor  Moira  was  instructed  to  decorate  the 
ceilings  of  the  boardroom  and  the  staircase  and  to  design  and  make  the  big  stained-glass 
windows  to  light  the  staircase. 

The  boardroom  ceiling  (Plate  7)  was  a difficult  problem,  and  one  that  tested  all  Moira’s 
ability  and  now  maturing  genius.  It  is  a large  barrelled  ceiling,  divided  into  three  bays. 
The  centre  bay  was  broken  up  into  many  smaller  panels,  richly  bordered.  In  these  Moira 
painted  allegorical  figures  representing  the  four  ancient  elements  : Earth,  Air,  Fire  and 
Water  ; and  these  in  their  turn  are  flanked  by  smaller  panels  containing  the  signs  of  the 
Zodiac. 

In  four  large  outer  lunettes  were  painted  spirited,  charming  and  graceful  allegorical 
representations  of  the  Four  Winds  of  Heaven  ; and  at  one  end  is  a tremendous  lunette, 
(Plate  8)  running  the  length  of  the  room,  in  which  one  sees  a beautiful  female  figure,  the  Spirit 
of  the  Sea,  attended  by  her  sea-maidens,  driving  a team  of  scaly  and  monster  sea-horses 
through  tempestuous  waves. 

The  artist  came  back  to  realism,  however,  when  he  designed  the  windows  for  the  staircase. 
In  these,  beautiful  examples  of  the  highest  art  of  illumination,  is  shown  the  ancient  and 
honourable  trade  of  shipbuilding,  the  mam  themes  being  the  building  of  a sailing  ship  and 
the  building  of  a steamship. 

The  ceiling  of  the  staircase  dealt  again  with  ships.  Here  a series  of  four  roundels  records 
the  evolution  of  ocean  vessels  from  the  early  sailing  ships  to  the  days  of  all-pervadmg  steam. 
First  a Greek  tea-clipper,  propelled  by  sail  and  oar  ; then  a masted  sailing  ship,  its  sails 
domed  out  by  an  imaginary  wind ; in  the  third  of  the  series  one  of  those  quaint  vessels  that  were 
neither  wood  nor  steel — part  timber,  part  iron — a record  of  that  passing  phase  when  the 
mercantile  marine  developed  so  rapidly  ; and  finally  a modern  ocean  liner  completes  the  series 
and  brings  their  story  up  to  date.  All  these  are  connected  by  broad  bands  of  floral  decoration  and 
the  remainder  of  the  ceiling  and  staircase  consists  of  harmonious  plain  colours  relieved  by  black 
marble  bands. 

The  complete  decorative  scheme,  whether  regarded  panel  by  panel,  lunette  by  lunette, 
or  as  a complete  whole,  is  superb.  It  is  a true  sign  of  London  s greatness  that  here  in  the 
heart  of  the  city,  m the  very  axial  centre  of  the  world’s  commerce,  should  exist  so  priceless 
and  perfect  a gem  of  art.  This  magnificent  office  building,  where  the  tangled  ends  of  a mighty 
Empire’s  shipping  are  held  and  controlled,  is  indeed  m no  whit  outdone  by  the  fabled  wonders 
of  ancient  oriental  palaces.  There  are  gold  and  precious  stones  and  ornament,  and  all  the 
splendour  that  modern  science  and  vast  wealth  can  jointly  assemble,  and  it  is  good  to  con- 
template that  not  the  least  of  the  treasures  m this  unparalleled  office  palace  is  the  work  of  a 
modern  artist  and  that  that  work  adds  richness  to  its  magnificence. 

s s s s s 


Plate  13. 

ARMORIAL  STAINED  GLASS  WINDOW. 

On  Staircase  of  Central  Criminal  Court,  London  (photographed  from  the  Cartoon). 

1902-1906 


Plate  14 

THE  RUSSIAN  BALLET. 
Water  Colour. 

1917. 


/ 

\ 


/ 


: V. 


' M 


I 


Plate  13. 

THE  CRYSTAL  VASE. 
1909. 


Y 


■ 4 


■;v: 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


2i 


Entirely  different  was  Moira’s  next  undertaking,  although  it  too  was  the  interior  decoration 
of  a palatial  London  office.  This  was  a ceiling  of  the  Board  Room  of  the  United  Kingdom 
Temperance  and  General  Provident  Institution  m the  Strand  (Plate  9). 

The  ceiling  is  twenty-five  feet  m length,  with  rounded  ends.  In  the  centre  Moira 
painted  a digriified  figure  of  a woman.  Providence,  surrounded  by  children  and  the  fruits 
of  the  earth.  Kneeling  to  her  in  an  attitude  of  supplication.  Motherhood  receives  her 
benediction. 

At  one  end.  Vice  and  Drunkenness  mounted  on  a great-winged  eagle,  fly  before 
Temperance,  who  has  seized  the  reins,  while  Humanity,  typified  m the  stalwart  and  muscular 
figure  of  a man,  climbs  upwards.  Opposite,  Knowledge  emerges  from  behind  the  curtains 
of  the  unknown. 

s s s s s 

Among  the  mural  decorations  of  this  period  of  Moira’s  work  were  some  important  panels 
in  mosaic,  particularly  a series  of  six  m the  Holborn  Restaurant,  London,  and  one  m the  School 
of  Art  at  Leeds.  Those  in  Holborn  represent  Music,  Dancing,  Pageantry,  Feasting,  Oratory 
and  Singing.  They  are  beautifully  and  skilfully  worked  m harmony  with  the  tone  of  the 
surrounding  red  Verona  marble  in  which  the  general  scheme  was  carried  out,  and  with  their 
liberal  but  ingenious  use  of  gold  add  much  to  the  decorative  effect  of  the  Hall. 

s s s s s 

At  this  time  Gerald  Moira  was  also  devoting  much  attention  to  stained  glass  and,  in 
addition  to  those  occasions  where  he  employed  stained  glass  as  part  of  a larger  scheme  of  general 
decoration,  as  for  instance  in  Lloyd’s  Register,  and  later  m the  Central  Criminal  Court,  he  was 
also  receiving  and  carrying  out  commissions  for  windows  singly. 

Perhaps  the  best  example  of  the  time,  excluding  the  armorial  windows  of  the  Old  Bailey, 
is  that  which  was  done  for  Mr.  Andrew  Carnegie  at  Skibo  Castle,  his  country  seat  m Scotland. 
It  consists  of  five  lights.  The  centre  is  occupied  by  the  figure  of  St.  Gilbert,  whose  name 
IS  connected  with  the  Castle  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  he  was  Bishop  of  Dornoch  m 1225  and 
made  Skibo  his  palace.  It  is  flanked  on  the  left  by  the  bearded  figure  of  Sigurd,  the  Dane, 
who  built  the  Castle  in  946,  while  opposite  is  a XVI  Ith  Century  cavalier,  the  Marquis  of 
Montrose,  who,  so  local  history  tells,  was,  at  one  time,  trapped  near  Skibo. 

The  two  outer  lights  relate  the  pictorial  life-story  of  Andrew  Carnegie.  On  the  extreme 
left  the  cottage  where  he  was  born,  and,  in  a small  panel  above,  a representation  of  the  sailing 
ship  that  took  him  across  the  Atlantic  to  seek  fortune,  surmounted  by  the  date  1848.  On 
the  far  right  the  remaining  window  bears  m a panel  a view  of  a modern  ocean  liner,  over  which 
is  the  date  1898,  and  below  a representation  of  the  Castle  itself,  surrounded  by  a wood. 

The  general  scheme  of  these  windows  is  very  fine.  Their  colours  are  rich  and  luxurious, 
and  do  much  to  add  to  the  splendour  of  the  magnificent  Scottish  edifice  of  which  they  are 
a part. 

Another  window  which  is  well  worthy  of  record  is  one  executed  at  about  the  same  period  in 
Woodlands  Church  in  memory  of  Dr.  Henry  James  Younger.  The  window  is  a symbolical 
representation  of  the  text,  “ Unto  you  that  fear  My  name  shall  the  Sun  of  righteousness  arise 


United  Kingdi 
Provident 
Institution, 
London. 


Mosaic, 

Holborn 

Restaurant, 

London. 


Skibo  Castle 
Windows 


22 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


with  healing  in  His  wings.”  A figure  of  Righteousness  forms  the  centre  of  the  design,  and 
beneath  are  two  figures  who  represent  Humanity  m need  of  comfort  and  healing.  A suggestion 
of  landscape  is  given  to  the  design  by  an  encircling  river. 

This  window  is  remarkable  for  its  richness  of  colour  and  fine  transparency.  At  the 
same  time,  Moira  has  succeeded  m putting  into  it  a wealth  of  deep  religious  feeling  which  makes 
it  singularly  beautiful  in  view  of  its  purpose  and  its  place. 

In  all  Moira’s  stained  glass  decorations,  the  actual  manufacture  of  the  glass  is  carried 
out  from  his  cartoons  and  designs  under  his  personal  supervision.  He  possesses  great 
appreciation — almost,  one  might  say,  reverence,  for  the  intrinsic  beauty  of  the  material. 
He  will  have  nothing  to  do  with  painted  glass,  although  there  are  many  artists  who  use  this 
form  of  decoration,  and  many  windows  m important  places  which,  perhaps  deservedly  enough, 
receive  much  attention  and  admiration,  but  which  are  not  in  the  true  sense  ” stained  ” glass 
at  all.  Moira  early  joined  that  band  of  artists  who  desire  to  restore  to  this  ancient  art  its 
high  prestige  and  purity  of  motive.  He  believes  m the  capacity  of  manufacturers  to  produce 
in  the  medium  itself  the  rich  shades  of  colour  m his  designs,  and  consequently  finds  m this 
form  of  decoration  an  outlet  for  all  his  love  of  exotic  colour,  and  a magnificent  means  of 
expression  of  his  sense  of  design. 


Plate  16. 

THE  SUMMIT  OF  THE  SLAG  HEAP. 
1920. 


Plate  17. 

THE  BATHERS. 
1911. 


IV. 


23 


E come  now  to  what  is,  m Moira’s  own  opinion,  his  masterpiece, 
his  mural  decorations  and  stained-glass  windows  in  the  new 
Central  Criminal  Court,  at  the  top  of  the  historic  Old  Bailey, 
a stone  s throw  away  from  that  majestic,  all-commanding 
monument  of  English  architecture,  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral. 

Here  Moira’s  powers  reached  their  fullest  maturity.  All 
the  previous  work  he  had  done,  splendid  and  able  though  most 
of  it  was,  had  been  a long  and  gently-nsing  crescendo  of  effort 
to  apply  his  natural  genius  and  the  results  of  his  years  of 
training  and  practical  experience  to  the  art  of  mural  decoration, 
which  reached  its  highest  note  in  the  three-years’  task  between  1902  and  1906,  of  embellishing 
that  great  new  stone  building  on  the  site  of  the  Old  Bailey  where  for  centuries  British  justice 
has  been  administered  without  fear  or  favour. 

The  choice  of  painters  fell  to  W.  E.  Mountford,  Esq.,  the  architect,  who  went  to  the 
late  G.  F.  Watts,  R.A.  for  advice,  and  it  was  on  the  recommendation  of  Watts,  himself  one 
of  the  great  masters  of  decorative  painting,  that  Moira  was  chosen  to  decorate  the  South 
Vestibule  of  the  Great  Hall,  the  Dome,  and  the  ceiling  and  windows  of  the  staircase,  and 
Sir  W.  B.  Richmond,  K.C.B.,  R.A.,  the  North  Vestibule  of  the  Great  Hall. 

The  decoration  which  fell  to  Moira’s  lot  in  the  Southern  Vestibule  consisted  of  three  great 
lunettes,  and  never  has  he  more  worthily  justified  his  high  rank  as  a mural  decorator  than  he 
did  by  his  selection  and  treatment  of  the  subjects  with  which  he  filled  these  three  tremendous 
spaces. 

In  the  centre  lunette  is  “ Justice  Receiving  the  Homage  of  the  Empire  ; ” on  the  right, 
“ Mosaic  Law  ” ; and  on  the  left,  “ English  Law  ” : surely,  in  their  perfect  fitness  of  their 
subject  to  their  place  alone,  ideal.  A simple  but  a masterly  conception. 

“ Justice  Receiving  the  Homage  of  the  Empire  ” (Plate  10)  is  a picture  Moira-hke.  In 
the  centre  stands  a statuesque  figure  of  Justice,  her  face  an  index  of  dignity  and  honour.  Her 
right  hand  grasps  a mighty  sword,  perpendicularly  poised,  whose  point  rests  upon  the  topmost 
of  a flight  of  steps,  and  in  the  left  a short  chain  from  which  depends  a pair  of  scales,  their 
balance  “ perfect,  exact  and  true.  ” 

Grouped  upon  either  side  are  various  figures,  and  Moira  has  made  these  more  than 
ordinarily  significant  by  portraying  famous  men  of  his  own  generation  as  well  as  figures 
allegorically  representing  particular  phases  of  life  and  conditions  of  mankind.  The  group 
includes  the  leading  representatives  of  Religion  in  the  persons  of  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  Cardinal  Newman,  and  Dr.  Hermann  Adler,  the  Chief  Rabbi  ; then  the  Law  in 
those  of  the  Lord  Chancellor  and  the  Lord  Chief  Justice.  The  distinguished  figure  of  Lord 
Roberts  and  that  of  a private  soldier  typify  the  British  Army.  An  Indian  Prince,  who  kneels 
before  “ Justice,  ” represents  the  width  and  breadth  of  Empire.  Finally,  a stalwart  blacksmith 
bears  witness  to  the  vigour  of  industry,  and,  seated  on  the  steps  is  a charming  group  of 
mother  and  children  typifying  at  once  the  people  and  family  life.  Behind  all  this  the 


The  Central 
Criminal  Court. 
Old  Bailey. 


“ Justice 
Receiving  the 
Homage  of  the 
Empire.  " 


24 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


Mosaic  Law. 


English  Law. 


noble,  decoratively-treated  outline  of  St.  Paul’s  Cathedral  lends  dignity  and  magnificence 
to  the  design. 

In  this  lunette,  with  its  wide  comprehensiveness  of  soldier,  statesman,  ecclesiastic  and 
people,  Moira  has  created  an  epic  work  and  achieved  a masterpiece.  Justice  acknowledges 
neither  creed  nor  ran  k.  All  are  equal.  Yet  is  she  acknowledged  and  supported  by  every 
class  and  type. 

Beneath  the  picture,  the  artist  has  inscribed  m clear  and  vivid  lettering,  in  the  form  of  a 
decorative,  nbbon-hke  frieze  which  is  built  around  the  Hall,  the  words.  Poise  the  Cause 
of  Justice  in  the  Scale. 

“ Mosaic  Law  ’ (Plate  1 1)  is  a lunette  of  the  same  great  size.  It  bears  thirteen  figures, 
m the  centre  of  which  are  Moses  and  Aaron,  holding  the  tablets  on  which  are  inscribed  the  ten 
commandments.  The  white-robed  figure  of  Moses,  patriarchal  and  impressive,  breathes 
the  spirit  of  ancient  law,  law  carried  out  by  wise  and  kingly  rulership.  In  the  background, 
shadowy  but  majestic,  stands  the  rugged,  many-faceted  Mount  Sinai.  About  the  central 
figure  of  the  prophet  are  grouped  the  elders  of  the  Israelites,  picturesquely  costumed,  m attitude 
of  reverent  attention  to  the  divine  commands. 

Beneath,  and  continuing  the  written  line,  are  painted  the  words,  Moses  gave  unto  the 
people  the  Laws  of  God.  " 

“ English  Law  ” (Plate  12)  is  the  opposite  lunette.  For  the  subject  for  this,  the  artist 
has  turned  back  to  the  days  of  King  Alfred. 

d he  scheme  is  carried  out  m the  same  restrained,  effective  style  as  that  m each  of  the 
other  two  lunettes.  Large  as  is  the  work,  there  are  but  thirteen  figures  m the  whole 
composition,  and  each  of  them  is  treated  m the  same  severe  and  dignified  manner.  Again 
there  is  a series  of  steps,  though  in  this  instance  m the  mam  they  number  only  two,  with  a 
third  higher  step  at  each  end. 

In  the  centre  of  the  piece,  Alfred  the  Great  is  seated,  with  long  white  hair  and  noble 
head  surmounted  by  a simple  crown  of  gold.  His  hoary  beard  flows  down  on  to  his 
voluminously  draped  garment.  In  the  left  hand  he  grasps  a roll  of  manuscript  ; his  right  is 
extended  towards  his  counsellors. 

About  the  king  are  old  men — Druids,  counsellors  and  captains  the  fathers  and  leaders 
of  the  early  Britons.  A monk-garbed  ancient  holds  upright  a shepherd  s crook.  Before  him 
a little  group  of  three  represent  the  people  of  the  island,  one  of  them  a boy  who  clasps  m his 
arms  a wolf-hound. 

In  the  background  that  strange  architectural  device  of  earliest  England,  the  great,  ungainly 
rooks  of  Stonehenge,  with  their  high  and  uncouth  arches,  overshadows  the  kingly  group,  an 
echo  of  that  ancient  temple  that  stood  for  what  was  then  considered  justice  and  the  Law.  Behind 
this  again,  solid  rough-hewn  masonry  stretches  in  an  endless  wall  built  to  withstand  all 
invaders  and  outlive  the  lives  of  many  men. 


Plate  18. 

LONDON 

1910. 


Plate  19. 

A JULY  DAY. 
1915. 


i 


r.  .n' 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


25 


Finally,  the  line  of  writing  is  completed  under  this  lunette  with  the  quotation,  Right 
Lives  by  Law  and  Submits  by  Power. 

These  three  panels  are  not  only  executed  with  monumental  simplicity  and  nobility,  and 
clarity  of  design,  but  are  eminently  satisfying  m achievement  of  fitness  to  purpose.  Moreover, 
their  colouring,  typically  Moira-like,  is  rich  and  splendid,  so  that  they  emanate  life  and  the 
gloriousness  of  living  and  doing.  They  cover  a world  of  thought  and  throw  a significant  light 
upon  the  ideals  of  a great  people,  exemplified  m this  magnificent  building  where  Justice  is 
tempered  with  Mercy. 

In  the  Dome  the  scheme  is  carried  out  a little  further  yet.  In  the  four  panels  into  which 
it  IS  structurally  divided,  Moira  has  painted  four  allegorical  figures,  “ Art,”  ” Truth,” 
“ Labour,”  and  “ Learning,”  and  each  one  of  these  figures  bears,  m its  combined  simplicity 
and  dignity,  the  imprint  of  his  genius.  In  the  spaces  between  these  figures  are  smaller 
panels  embellished  v/ith  the  city  arms. 

Not  by  any  means  the  least  important  examples  of  Gerald  Moira’s  work  in  the  Central 
Criminal  Court  are  the  two  stained  glass  windows  that  light  the  mam  staircase  and  a side  of 
the  upper  Central  Hall.  It  is  doubtful  if  there  can  anywhere  be  found  two  more  interesting  or 
pleasing  instances  of  the  art  of  stained  glass  illumination  than  are  these  two,  one  above  the 
other — certainly  not  m any  modern  building. 

The  richness  of  the  colour  schemes,  in  which  reds,  deep  purples  and  glowing  orange 
predominate,  and  the  individual  character  of  the  design  combine  to  give  an  effect  that  is 
infinitely  satisfying  and  peaceful. 

The  upper  window  is  circular  and  about  six  feet  in  width.  Moira  has  woven  into  the 
design  the  armorial  bearings  of  the  Recorders  of  the  City  of  London.  The  idea  is  as  ingenious 
as  the  execution  is  brilliant.  The  deep,  soft  colours  are  excellently  balanced,  and  daringly 
as  they  are  combined  are  none  the  less  delicate  and  harmonious  m their  complete  effect.  The 
window  is  sunk  into  a deep  bay,  the  wall  being  of  tremendous  thickness,  and  this  has  a curious 
effect  of  carrying  the  window  into  the  distance,  rather  adding  to  than  detracting  from  its 
effectiveness,  except  that  the  projecting  wall  tends  to  cut  off  a thin  crescent  from  the  bottom  of 
the  window  when  it  is  viewed  from  the  Great  Hall. 

The  lower  and  larger  window  is  situated  directly  below  the  armorial  window,  and  whereas 
the  upper  one  is  circular  in  shape,  this  is  of  the  “ arch  ” type.  Here  again  are  repeated  the  same 
rich,  deep  shades  of  reds  and  purples,  woven  with  whites  and  greens  into  floral  and  allegorical 
designs  with  Moira’s  unerring  skill  of  design  and  colour  management.  The  heavy  lead  lines 
are  manipulated  with  singularly  telling  effect. 

In  the  lower  part  of  the  window  are  three  scroll-shaped  sections  which  tell  the  historical 
story  of  the  building.  In  the  centre,  on  a two-piece  panel  of  deep  violet,  is  painted  a 
reproduction  of  the  external  facade  of  the  new  building,  over  which  are  inscribed  the  words  : 
‘‘New  Central  Criminal  Court,  1906.”  To  the  left  of  this  representation  is  a. small  panel 


Stained  Glass 
Windows, 

Old  Bailey. 


26 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


bearing  the  words  : ' This  Building  was  Erected  by  the  Corporation  of  the  City  of  London 
1902-1906  ” ; and  on  the  right  in  a third  panel,  the  names  of  its  creators,  in  the  following 
order  : 

GEO.  MOUNTFORD,  Architect. 

F.  W.  POMEROY,  Sculptor. 

SIR  WM.  RICHMOND,  R.A.,  Painter. 

GERALD  MOIRA,  Painter. 

Thus  are  perpetuated  the  names  of  those  who  have  made  this  great  monument  to  Justice 
worthy  of  its  great  purpose.  The  decorations  by  Gerald  Moira  and  Sir  William  Richmond 
although  they  are  utterly  different  in  motive  and  plan,  have  added  an  intimate  warmth  and 
interest  to  bare  walls  that  would  otherwise  have  weighed  upon  the  visitor  with  a forbidding 
austerity,  dignifying  and  at  the  same  time  beautifying  the  Hall  of  which  they  are  an  integral 
part,  and  the  effect  is  heightened  and  re-doubled  by  the  stained  glass  windows  by  means  of 
which  Moira  has  contrived  to  soften  and  pacify  the  lofty  grandeur  of  the  interior  of  the  building. 
Thanks  chiefly  to  Moira’s  unfailing  sense  of  “ fitness  to  purpose  ” his  mural  and  illuminative 
decorations  have  m this  monument  to  his  genius,  secured  and  confirmed  for  him  his  rightful 
place  among  the  modern  masters  of  decoration. 


Plate  20. 

FERRETING. 

1921. 


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Plate  21. 

THE  CORNISH  FLORAL  DANCE 
1922. 


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27 


HE  somewhat  irregular  intervals  between  mural  and  ceiling 
decorations  and  stained  glass  windows,  and  such  time  as  was 
left  over  from  his  professorial  duties  at  the  Royal  College  of 
Art,  was  devoted  by  Moira  to  the  making  of  easel  pictures. 

Although  he  has  made  mural  decoration  his  main  work  in  life 
and  has  achieved  in  that  direction  one  of  the  topmost  places 
among  contemporary  artists,  his  pictures  have  brought  him 
hardly  less  distinction — probably  for  the  natural  reason  that 
his  infallible  decorative  skill  must  and  does  show  itself  in  and 
through  all  his  work. 

With  occasional  exceptions  no  year  has  passed  since  he  gained  his  professorship,  or  at 
any  rate  since  the  completion  of  his  long  task  at  the  Old  Bailey,  but  he  has  somehow  found  time 
and  opportunity  to  create  one  or  more  pictures  to  be  sent  to  and  hung  in  the  Royal  Academy.  Picture* 
Besides  these,  many  water-colours,  pastels  (a  favourite  medium)  and  lithographs  now  scattered 
about  the  world  in  private  houses  and  public  galleries  bear  witness  to  his  indefatigable  industry 
and  remarkable  and  versatile  talent. 

As  one  would  naturally  expect,  his  pictures  are  in  the  main  large  in  size,  for  although  he 
has  on  occasion  given  his  attention  to  smaller  works,  the  tendency  that  arises  no  doubt 
out  of  his  intimacy  with  big  decorations  that  run  in  tens  of  feet,  and  in  which  sometimes 
a single  figure  will  reach  eight  or  nine  feet  in  height,  is  to  deal  always  with  canvas  of  considerable 
area.  Strangely  enough,  however,  two  of  his  more  intense  pictures  are  not  of  this  class. 

One  of  them,  “ The  Crystal  Vase,”  measures  only  thirty^eight  inches  by  forty,  and  the  other, 

“ The  Summit  of  the  Slag-heap  ” is  somewhat  smaller. 

“ The  Crystal  Vase  ” (Plate  15)  was  painted  and  exhibited  at  Burlington  House  in  1909. 

The  picture  is  that  of  a girl  rather  more  than  half  length,  nude  except  for  a cloth  of  rich, 

brown,  flowing  material  draped  across  the  lower  part  and  supported  in  the  left  hand.  On  the 

right  is  a large,  glorious,  crystal  vase,  its  lid  encircled  by  the  right  hand  and  arm  of  the  woman.  “The  Crystal 

In  the  deep-cut  convolutions  of  the  glass  a myriad  lights  scintillate  and  sparkle,  red,  blue, 

yellow,  as  the  spectrum  is  broken  up  and  thrown  out  from  its  glancing  edges.  The  marvellous 

irridescence  of  crystal  is  truthfully  and  delightfully  expressed  in  every  brush-stroke,  ranging 

through  every  rich  gradation  of  colour.  And  the  soft,  creamy  skin  of  the  naked  human  body, 

with  its  seductive  shadows  and  entrancing  curves,  serves  to  accentuate  and  to  be  accentuated  by 

the  glowing,  pleasantly-glinting  life  and  light  in  this  excellent  example  of  the  glass-cutter’s  art. 

Only  a Moira  could  have  achieved  the  wonderful  decorative  juxtaposition  of  living  woman  and 
artificial  vase  and  have  treated  the  two-fold  subject  with  such  a wealth  of  rich,  vibrant,  expressive 
feeling  and  beauty.  Its  drawing  is  perfect,  its  composition  is  unimpeachable,  its  treatment  is 
masterly.  And  through  it  all  there  is  discernible  a quality  that  defies  definition,  a quality  that 
stamps  it  all  as  more  than  merely  technical,  as.  Indeed,  sublime. 

Strangely  enough,  “ The  Summit  of  the  Slag-heap  ” though  executed  ten  years  later, 
is  subtly  suggestive  of  the  same  indefinable  quality.  There  is  in  th^se  two  pictures — and  to 
some  extent  in  another  of  Gerald  Moira’s  paintings,  ” The  Bathers,  ” — an  elusive  feeling  of 


28 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


“ The  Summit  of 
the  Slag-heap. 


“ The  Bathers.  ” 


romance,  of  something  deeper  than  the  simple  record  of  material  phenomena.  While  “ The 
Crystal  Vase  ” is  half  still-life  and  half  figure-study,  “ The  Summit  of  the  Slag-heap  ” is  an 
exercise  m tragedy,  and  The  Bathers  ” a record  of  a common  scene  of  the  water’s  edge  ; 
and  yet,  notwithstanding  the  width  asunder  of  their  subjects,  every  one  of  these  three  pictures 
bears  the  same  subtle  trace  and  mark  of  that  infinite  understanding  or  emotion,  whatever  it 
may  be,  that  indicates  to  whoever  has  eyes  to  see  and  thoughts  to  read  the  true  genius  of  the 
true  artist.  There  is  an  inexpressible  content  in  each  one  of  them  that  makes  it  a masterpiece 
and  that  moves  the  susceptible  observer  to  a feeling  akin  to  awe. 

“ The  Summit  of  the  Slag-heap  ” (Plate  16)  is  startlingly  different  in  subject  from  ’’The 
Crystal  Vase.”  It  was  painted  in  1920  for  exhibition  at  the  Leicester  Galleries,  where  it  was 
one  of  the  twenty-five  pictures  of  ” Twenty-five  British  Painters. ’’  Whereas  “ The  Crystal 
Vase  ” IS  a picture  suggestive  of  luxury,  “ The  Summit  of  the  Slag-heap  ” is  suggestive  at 
once  of  toil  and  sorrow.  In  the  centre  of  the  canvas  a woman  kneels  silhouetted  against 
a dull  sky,  her  head  bowed  in  an  attitude  of  gentle  submission  and  infinite  despair  and  hope- 
lessness and  resignation.  Beneath  her  are  outlined  the  black  masses  that  one  realises  on  sight 
as  excellently  indicative  of  the  sorrows  of  arduous,  unremitting,  soul-destroying  labour — 
a poem  of  toiling  wretchedness — a vision  of  a world  without  ambition  and  without  joy.  It 
IS  a picture  that  calls  for  tears,  a picture  in  which  one  discerns  the  secrets  of  the  veritable 
bottom  of  life,  with  all  the  time  this  wonderful  tender  woman  looking  down  in  pity  and 
understanding  ineffable.  It  is  the  accurate  delineation  of  that  country  where  toil  is  without 
end,  life  without  hope,  eternity  without  joy.  It  is  the  idealisation  of  sorrow.  It  is  the  measure 
of  immeasurable  pathos.  And  yet  mysteriously  it  expresses  the  Sublime  Great  Accident 
of  All  Things  wherein  m evil  is  incipient  good.  It  is,  after  all,  a parable  of  hope  above 
hopelessness  and  a lesson  m eternal  pity. 

” The  Bathers,”  191 1,  (Plate  17)  strikes  a totally  different  note.  This  is  a large  canvas, 
the  figures  little  short  of  life  size.  The  observer  stands  upon  a sunny,  check-patterned  portico 
looking  out  over  a calm  blue-green  sea.  The  central  figure  is  that  of  a woman.  She  wears 
a bathing  costume  over  which  is  thrown  with  apparent  negligence  a fleecy  wrap.  Before  her 
stands  the  dainty,  nude  and  graceful  figure  of  a young  girl.  They  are  mother  and  daughter. 

In  the  middle  distance  a rugged  island  cliff  rears  itself  into  the  sky.  Overhead  a pair  of 
sea-gulls  flutter.  Two  slender  pillars  define  the  limits  of  the  porch  and  on  the  right  a second 
woman  is  seen  seated  beyond  the  fence  that  joins  a pillar.  Two  rich  red  curtains  hang  from  the 
unseen  roof  of  the  verandah.  A rotund  vase  of  big-petalled  flowers  stands  upon  its  chequered 
floor.  A strand  of  pebbled,  golden  sand  divides  the  water  from  the  portico. 

Such  are  the  bare  constituents  of  the  picture.  But  it  is  more  than  that.  It  is  a charming 
and  beautiful  record  of  the  gentle  love  of  a mother  for  her  child,  of  the  budding  pride  and 
incipient  destiny  of  youth  and  beauty. 

I have  classed  these  three  pictures  more  or  less  together  because  of  that  mysterious 
quality  that  is  common  to  therh  all,  that  transcends  mere  subject,  that  is  not  a matter  of  a 
period,  that  is  not  all  technique  even,  but  that  is  certainly  the  quality  that  makes  pictures 
greater  than  mere  paint  dexterously  and  cunningly  applied  to  canvas.  One  almost  wonders 


QC, 
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B 

uJ  ^ 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


29 


if  in  these  examples  of  his  art  Moira  did  not  paint  " better  than  he  knew.  ” Not  that  these 
are  the  only,  works  or  even  the  only  easel  pictures  of  his  that  justify  his  eminence  among  his 
contemporaries.  By  no  means.  July  Day  and  " The  Cornish  Floral  Dance,  ” for  instance, 
again  reflect  his  magic  power,  and,  no  doubt,  other  pictures,  which  the  writer  had  not  had  the 
privilege  to  study  at  hrst  hand  (photographs  are  really  inadequate  to  convey  the  spirit  of 
the  work — they  can  only  show  the  letter),  contain  the  mystic  quality  of  genius  too  ; but  in 
those  I have  endeavoured  to  describe,  there  is,  I submit,  that  incomprehensible  "soul  ” that 
places  them  above  others,  even  above  others  from  the  same  potent  brush. 

London  ’’  (Plate  18)  is  a colossal  picture — indeed  it  should  really  be  classed  as 
decoration — eighteen  feet  m height,  which  was  exhibited  at  the  Royal  Academy  m 1910. 
It  took  London  by  storm.  I can  perhaps  best  describe  it  by  quoting  briefly  from  some  of 
the  numerous  contemporary  notices  : 

On  the  1st  .May,  1910,  The  Observer  said  of  this  picture  : " It  is  a thousand  pities  that 

Professor  Moira’s  splendid  decorative  painting,  " London,  ” is  not  destined  for  some  public 
building  where  it  may  serve  as  ocular  demonstration  of  the  manner  in  which  a wall  decoration 
shpuld  be  treated  by  a modern  artist  ....  It  is  true  Professor  Moira’s  crowded  group 
of  people — workers  and  idlers,  rich  and  poor,  children  and  grown-ups,  all  assembled  under 
an  imaginary  classic  portico  by  the  river  opposite  St.  Paul  s Cathedral,  and  the  wharves  and 
business  houses  that  line  the  bank — are  a h ttle  too  playful  and  lack  the  monumental  character 
which  IS  expected  m mural  decoration  on  this  scale.  But  apart  from  this  the  panel  has  a 
noble  rhythm  of  design,  which  is  inhnitely  more  pleasing  than  the  monotony  of  symmetrical 
arrangement,  and  a corresponding  rhythm  of  beautiful  colour  dominated  by  the  blue  of  the 
clouded  sky  which  is  echoed  throughout  the  lower  part  of  the  composition 

The  Standard  of  May  3rd  : " But  the  last  word  must  be  reserved  for  a decorative  picture 
that  reaches  excellence  and  fascination,  and  is  very  near  to  greatness — Mr.  Gerald  Moira’s 
London.’  You  look  upon  the  city  from  the  south  side  of  the  river  ; before  you  all  the 
variety  of  association  and  form  enumerated  by  Wordsworth  m the  famous  sonnet  that 
Westminster  Bridge,  and  not  the  City,  inspired.  In  the  near  foreground  hgures  on  a large 
scale  are  disposed  most  skilfully.  The  thing  is  one  great  whole  ; and  it  somehow  is  so 
notwithstanding  the  quite  un-English  character  of  most  of  the  people.  Intelligent  and  pleasant 
French  tourists,  one  might  say — come  over  with  return  tickets.  Somehow  you  do  not  grumble 
at  it.  Besides,  m one  or  two  of  the  figures  the  note  of  characteristic  industry  and  typical  labour 
is  struck  nobly.  It  is  a London  that  is  lived  m as  well  as  a London  that  is  seen.  Its  profound 
pictorial  qualities  and  high  decorative  sense  would  make  Mr.  Moira’s  picture  the  worthy 
companion  of  the  hnest  instances  of  decoration  at  this  moment  m the  Avenue  D’Antin. 
Certainly  by  La  Touche  and  Aman  jean  and  Rene  Menard  might  be  placed  this  scarcely  less 
than  august  utterance  of  Mr.  Gerald  Moira.’ 

Again,  The  Evening  Standard  of  May  4th  said  : " Room  X is  dominated  by  Mr.  Gerald 
Moira’s  big  decoration  of  * London.  In  spite  of  its  sea  le.  tl  us  . . . can  be  judged  as  a 

picture.  It  IS  in  the  convention  of  an  easel  as  distinct  from  a wall  jramtmg,  and  though 
admirably  decorative  in  comj^osition  is  treat'ed  with  only  the  necessary  avoidance  of  realism. 


L.ontion. 


30 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


••  The  Blue 
Carpet 


“July  Day.” 


As  a rule,  in  work  of  this  size  the  most  a painter  can  do  is  to  fill  up  well-designed  spaces  with 
good  colour,  but  Mr.  Moira  has  made  his  actual  paint  interesting,  and  his  brush  work  is 
perfectly  adapted  to  the  scale  of  the  whole.  The  view,  St.  Paul’s  from  the  Surrey  side,  is 
characteristic  and  yet  unhackneyed  ; the  symbolical  mingling  of  glitter,  grime,  pleasure, 
poverty  and  labour  looks  natural  and  not  arranged  with  a moral,  and  even  the  unsettled  weather 
seems  typical  of  the  subject.  Mr.  Moira  is  to  be  congratulated  on  a very  fine  piece  of  work.  ’ 

And  so  on.  These  are  fair  extracts  from  the  concensus  of  contemporary  criticism. 

A picture  to  which  the  word  " gorgeous  ” very  aptly  applies  is  ' dhe  Blue  Carpet 
(Plate  5).  This  was  painted  m 1917,  and  again  was  an  Academy  work.  The  carpet  is  the 
luxuriant  soft  carpet  of  Nature  ; the  blue  is  the  beautiful  blue  of  countless  flowers  and  the 
summer  sky.  In  the  foreground  a woman  reclines,  seated  easily  on  the  ground,  her  back 
resting  against  the  trunk  of  a great  tree.  Two  boys,  one  lying  full  length,  the  other  erect, 
complete  the  human  models  except  for  two  half-perceived  hgures  of  children  in  the  distance. 
Between  the  three,  and  spread  upon  the  grass  and  the  flowers  are  the  paraphernalia  of  a picnic. 
A buge  moss-covered  boulder  fills  the  middle  distance,  allowing  just  a glimpse  beyond  of  sunny, 
golden  landscape.  A rich  blue  sky,  paling  down  horizonwards,  is  over  everything. 

“ The  Blue  Carpet  ” is  a magic  carpet — well  calculated  to  carry  one  away  to  a land  where 
Nature  is  free  and  open,  where  innumerable  blue-bells  bloom,  where  geologic  rocks  and  sunshine 
between  them  dissipate  all  the  morbid  sundry  little  worries  of  the  present,  where  life  is  an 
easy  resting  on  Nature’s  own  blue  carpet.  This  is  the  effect  of  this  picture — decorative 
and  superlatively  happy  and  peaceful. 

In  " July  Day  ” (Plate  19),  Gerald  Moira’s  Academy  picture  of  1915,  there  is  again  the 
sympathetic  juxtaposition  of  startling  living  colour  in  pleasing  contrasts  and  form.  It  has 
some  points  in  common  with  ” The  Bathers.”  There  is  the  rich,  green-streaked  blue  of 
semi-placid  water,  huge  white,  moss-tipped  cliffs,  a brilliant  blue  sky  relieved  by  clouds  of 
fleecy  white,  and  on  the  foreshore  women  and  a man.  B1  ue,  red  and  white  are  the  key  colours. 
A woman  m the  immediate  foreground  is  decked  in  white  blouse,  brown  skirt  and  a cloak  of 
flaming  scarlet  ; the  same, resplendent  hue  is  repeated  m the  stripes  of  a wrap  that  is  being 
cast  aside  by  a girl  a little  further  away,  revealing  a pleasing  and  graceful  figure  clad  in  a 
flesh-fitting  costume.  Between  the  two,  a woman,  wi  th  bl  ue-stnped  blouse  and  apron, 
dandles  a naked,  rosy-cheeked  babe,  and  on  the  left,  half-hidden  by  a wall  of  rock,  the,  figure 
of  a man,  wearing  about  his  loins  a covering  of  red,  completes,  with  one  exception,  the  group. 
The  exception  is  another  girl,  more  distant,  who  laves  her  feet  m a small  creek  that  washes 
from  the  mam  sea.  Little  splashes  of  red  in  the  foreground  add  the  final  harmonious  touches  to 
the  pleasant  scene.  This  picture  was  purchased  by  the  Trustees  of  the  Canadian  National 
Gallery  at  Ottawa. 

Another  picture  that  serves  well  to  typify  Moira  s unerring  composition  and  masterly 
control  of  large  canvases -is  a grouj.i  portrait  of  his  children  which  was  seen  at  Burlington 
House  in  1916,  together  with  another  large  decoration,  ” Lhe  War  Workers  his  chief 
works  of  that 


year. 


F^t' 


7161 


Plate  26. 

CANADIAN  LUMBERMEN  IN  WINDSOR  PARK. 
1917. 


Plate  28. 

A WAR  ALLEGORY, 
1916. 


1 • ' 

I 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


31 


The  portrait  group  shows  four  young  boys,  their  ages  varying  from  two  to  six.  They 
are  apparently  haphazardly  grouped  (though  indeed  that  seeming  carelessness  of  arrangement 
becomes  on  examination  a skilfulness)  m a sunlit  room.  The  three  elder  children  are  wearing 
white,  fleecy  woollen  suits  and  the  “ baby  ” a frock  of  some  white  material  that  accords 
perfectly  with  the  remainder  of  the  picture.  The  white  surrounding  walls  and  the  pleasant 
sunny  aspect  of  the  rooms  with  its  vision  of  a beautiful  garden  seen  through  the  white-painted 
French  window  ; even  the  lightness  and  the  whiteness  of  the  furniture,  and  the  odd  splashes 
of  colour  in  cushions  here  and  there,  all  go  to  make  a happy  portrait  record  and  an  effective, 
pleasing  picture. 

Not  the  least  quality  about  this  soundly-versatile  artist’s  work  is  the  demonstration  of  his 
ability  to  take  a given  space  of  any  shape  or  size  and  convert  it  to  a perfectly-balanced  work 
of  art.  This  he  has  more  than  once  shown  m circular  pictures,  as  also  m a series  of  cross- 
shaped decorations  in  a London  Church  (which  are  dealt  with  in  a later  chapter). 

One  of  his  best  circular  pictures  is  ' Pastoral  (Plate  1).  This  was  shown  first  in  1921 
at  Toronto  and  later  at  the  **  Colour  Magazine  " Exhibition  at  the  Grosvenor  Galleries.  The 
picture  IS  reproduced  m these  pages  and  can  therefore  be  judged  by  the  reader  for  himself, 
but  I cannot  pass  mention  of  it  without  reference  to  the  delightful  colour-scheme,  with  its 
imposing  construction  of  enormous  mechanism  ; the  fantastic  combination  of  man  and  Pan  ; 
the  inviting  woodland  scene  and  tree-topped  hill  with  its  coaxing,  sunny,  winding  path.  Even 
the  glorious  blue  patches  of  the  early  autumn  sky  lend  their  dynamic  colour  with  pleasing 
effectiveness  to  the  whole,  and  the  pleasant  rural  figures  of  woman  and  child  have  their  place. 
Altogether  it  is  as  excellent  an  example  of  what  can  be  done  by  flawless  composition  with 
quaint  subject  and  difficult  design  as  one  might  ever  find. 

A picture  that  for  sheer,  luxuriant,  brilliant,  rich,  exotic  colour  and  grace  of  design,  that 
comes  near  to  surpassing  in  those  qualities  anything  that  Moira  has  done- — it  is  Moira-out- 
Moira  d — IS  ” La  Lune,  ” his  Academy  work  of  1912.  It  is  reminiscent  of  the  wonderful, 
glorious  plumage  of  birds  of  paradise,  of  bnght-hued  tropical  flora.  One  hardly  imagines  an 
ordinary  palette  capable  of  producing  so  gay  and  vivid  a galaxy  of  colour.  But  then,  Moira’s 
IS  rarely  an  ordinary  palette. 

And  with  it  all,  La  Lune  ’ is  a charming  picture,  as  it  is  a quaint  conception.  A 
dusky,  beautiful  girl  reclines  at  full  length  on  a bank  of  cloud,  one  arm  resting  easily  on  an  end 
of  the  crescent  moon.  Her  clothing  is  the  weird  drapery  of  the  milky  way  that  changes  subtly 
and  fantastically  from  stormy  firmament  to  streaming  waves  of  seething,  gossamer  cloud. 
Cupids,  not  too  conventional,  attend  this  Queen  of  the  Evening.  The  silver  moon  casts  a 
spectral  radiance  that  gives  a weird  quality  to  the  rich  rainbow  hues  of  the  heavy,  surging 
clouds  eddying  about  the  recumbent  figure,  and  a thousand  tiny  star-points  flicker  out  of  and 
between  their  dense  and  rolling  masses. 

Two  other  important  pictures  are  “ Ferreting  ” and  “ The  Cornish  Floral  Dance.” 
They  are  two  pictures  quite  different  in  treatment  and  in  subject — the  first  is  a charming 
decorative  picture,  its  size  38  ms.  X 38  ins.  ; the  other,  somewhat  larger,  would  better  be 
described  as  a jjictonal  decoration. 


“ Sons  of 
Gerald  Moira." 


" Pastoral  ” 


" La  Lune.' 


32 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


herretmg. 


“ The  Cornish 
Floral  Dance.  ” 


Water  Colours. 


“ Ferreting  ’ (Plate  20)  is  a painting  that  bears  a charm  peculiar  to  itself.  It  is  a cruel 
sport  turned  into  a thing  of  beauty.  Since  this  book  is  not  the  place  for  a sermon  I must 
content  myself  with  dealing  with  the  painting  ; if  its  inner  meaning  is  to  point  a finger  at 
wanton  cruelty  performed  m the  name  of  sport  then  the  pill  is  deliciously  coated. 

1 hree  great  boulders  that  tell  the  age-long  geologic  story  of  Nature  take  their  important 
places  on  the  canvas.  One  of  these,  only  partly  seen,  forms  a natural  seat  for  a mother. 
Lolling  negligently  against  a second,  that  rears  up  m the  centre,  a purple-sweatered,  healthy 
boy  of  ten  or  so  takes  a lazy,  nonchalant  interest  m the  business  of  the  sport.  Beneath,  a 
brown-smocked,  dark-haired  lad,  hands  upraised,  awaits  the  exit,  from  a dark  hole  below  the 
boulder,  of  the  ferret — and  the  rabbit.  Already  two  of  the  furry  animals  have  fallen  victims 
to  the  game.  Their  still  bodies  he  beside  the  orifice,  presently  to  be  joined  by  yet  others. 
The  mother  of  the  boys,  clad  m a fur-edged  yellow  jumper  and  a mauve-hned  skirt,  looks 
interestedly  on. 

“ The  Cornish  Floral  Dance  ’’  (Plate  21)  on  the  other  hand  is  slightly  “ impressionistic.” 
While  it  is  certainly  a faithful  pictorial  record  of  a quaint,  amusing  custom,  it  is  at  the  same 
time  treated  m a whimsical,  dainty,  impressionistic,  though  always  definitely  decorative 
manner.  The  little  village  visible  on  the  hill,  the  placid  harbour  with  its  solid  breakwater, 
tipped  by  a lighthouse  whose  winking  light  flashes  out  through  the  hazy  evening  twilight,  its 
homely  fishing  boats  dotted  about  the  surface  of  the  water  ; the  distant  landscape  thrown  back 
by  three  slender,  bushy-topped  trees  ; and  in  the  foreground  the  moving  figures  of  the  merry 
procession  of  the  floral  dance. 

A curious,  corduroy-vested  villager  bangs  the  drum  ; another,  a mere  pudgy,  check- 
capped  boy,  distends  his  cheeks  m an  obviously  successful  effort  to  add  the  reedy  resonance 
of  a big  brass  instrument  to  the  sum  of  the  musical  programme.  Young  men  and  girls, 
visitors  and  natives,  dance  a joyful  peregrination  to  their  tune,  wandering  onwards  up  the 
hillside.  Altogether  a happy,  charming,  exuberant  picture. 

s s s s s 

There  are  many  other  ”oils  ” more  than  worthy  of  record,  but  these  I have  attempted  to 
describe  will  suffice  to  give  the  reader  an  impression  of  the  wide  variety  and  consistent  effective 
quality  of  Gerald  Moira’s  work.  Still  more  numerous  are  his  water-colours,  and  the  Professor 
handles  water-colour  with  the  same  sure  skill.  Two  examples  from  his  brush  are  reproduced 
in  these  pages,  “ The  Russian  Ballet  ” (Plate  14),  and  ” Pegwell  Bay  ” (Plate  33). 


Plate  29. 

STATIONS  OF  THE  CROSS,  XII . 

at  St.  Paul’s,  Knlghtsbridge. 

1921, 


Plate  30. 

STATIONS  OF  THE  CROSS.  XIV. 
At  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge. 

1921. 


VI. 


33 


HE  decorations  that  have  formed  the  greater  part  of  Moira’s 
work  during  the  last  decade  fall  naturally  into  two  categories  : 
marine  and  mural. 

The  marine  decorations  have  consisted  of  the  embellish- 
ment of  no  fewer  than  seventeen  ocean-going  liners,  those  of 
the  Peninsular  and  Oriental  Steam  Navigation  Company,  a vast 
amount  of  work  of  which  since,  alas,  no  small  proportion  has 
been  lost  beneath  the  waves. 

For  the  mam  part,  these  decorations  have  taken  the  form 
of  lunettes  and  panels  in  the  public  rooms  of  the  liners. 
Sometimes  it  has  been  a pair  of  face-to-face  lunettes,  in  other  case  friezes,  panels,  roundels 
in  stateroom,  smoke  room,  public  saloon  or  staircase. 

Typical  lunettes  are  reproduced  in  Plates  22,  23  and  24,  and  smaller  panels  in  Plate  25. 

The  artistic  decoration  of  public  rooms  of  the  P.  & O.  lines  v/as  placed  by  the  Company 
in  the  hands  of  their  architects,  Messrs.  Collcutt  & Hamp,  and  it  was  directly  due  to  Mr. 
Collcutt  that  Professor  Moira  was  chosen  for  the  work.  It  is  safe  to  say  that  it  could  not 
have  been  more  wisely  allocated. 

The  ship  on  which  the  artist  lavished  more  labour  than  on  any  other  was  the  SS.  “ Medina,  ” 
which  received  that  special  distinction  in  honour  of  its  service  in  carrying  the  King,  then 
Prince  of  Wales,  to  India.  This  was  early  in  Moira’s  career. 

Mr.  Collcutt  called  upon  him  for  the  embellishment  of  the  royal  “ Medina’s  ” walls, 
and  for  the  great  royal  coat  of  arms  that  was  painted  on  her  bows.  It  is  a thousand  pities 
that  she  is  no  longer  afloat  to  bear  witness  to  the  patient  and  successful  endeavours  of  the 
artist  to  render  her  worthy  of  her  royal  passengers. 

But  she  IS  gone — a casualty  in  the  great  war.  And  all  that  remains  of  the  charming 
decorations  that  garnished  her  are  some  of  Moira’s  original  colour  sketches  and  a few  photo- 
graphs that  are  inadequate  to  convey  the  rich  beauty  of  these  decorations. 

Out  of  the  seventeen  ships  for  which  and  on  which  Gerald  Moira  has  laboured,  six  have 
since  sunk  or  been  sunk,  and,  as  m the  case  of  the  “ Medina,  ” the  work  is  for  ever  lost. 

S S§  H S 

To  turn  to  mural  decorations  apart  from  ships,  Moira’s  work  has  during  the  last  decade 
covered  many  various  purposes  and  places. 

The  great  war  was  not  without  its  telling  effect  on  the  work  of  Gerald  Moira,  as  indeed  of 
every  artist.  The  five  years  of  the  greatest  event  that  has  ever  scored  the  hearts  of  nations 
could  not  fail  to  affect  and  colour  his  labours.  At  least  four  of  his  large  mural  decorations 
and  many  smaller  pictures  have  recorded  some  phase  of  the  great  upheaval  and  one  may 
hope  that  these  may  play  their  part  m the  lesson  to  those  generations  of  the  future  who  must 
for  ever  beware  a repetition  of  the  ghastly  international  struggle. 

The  largest  of  his  war  works  was  done  for  the  Canadian  National  War  Memorial — a 
collection  of  historical  war  paintings  by  the  most  eminent  and  able  artists  of  the  period. 


Marine 

Decorations. 


War 

Decorations. 


34 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


" Canadian 
Lumbermen  in 
Windsor  Park.  ” 


The  Third 
Canadian 
Stationary 
Hospital.  ” 


Moira’s  contributions  to  this  collection  consisted  of  a triptych,  about  thirty  feet  in  width 
by  tv/elve  in  height,  “ No.  3 Canadian  Stationary  Hospital  at  Doullens,  ” and  a twelve  feet  by 
ten  feet  painting  “ Canadian  Foresters  in  Windsor  Park. ’’ 

No  section  of  the  great  British  Empire  army  was  more  picturesque  than  the  lumbermen 
from  Canada.  In  1916  the  first  battalion  of  these  stalwart  sons  of  the  forest  came  to  Virginia 
Water  ; when  the  war  reached  its  victorious  close  there  were  twenty  thousand  Canadians 
cutting  timber  m Great  Britain  and  France,  and  even  m Italy,  and  trimming  and  shaping 
it  m great  mills  and  creating  from  it  aerodromes  and  war-works  generally.  Clad  in  their 
blue  overalls  and  khaki  shirts  with  their  soft,  wide,  western  hats  they  became  in  many  places 
a familiar  sight, 

Moira  was  so  impressed  by  that  first  battalion,  as  he  saw  them  pursuing  their  strenuous 
toil  m the  beautiful,  shady  forest  of  Windsor  that  he  was  impelled  to  put  them  on  to  canvas. 
He  began.  Shortly  afterwards  that  indefatigable  Art  Adviser  to  the  Canadian  War  Memorials 
Committee,  Mr.  P.  G.  Konody,  happened  to  see  the  work  and  it  was  immediately  commissioned 
as  one  of  the  decorations  for  the  great  collection  which  had  then  just  begun  to  materialise. 

The  picture,  or  decoration  (Plate  26)  is  an  excellent  composition  and  still  a perfectly 
veracious  record.  The  season  is  the  early  summer.  Looming  beneath  a brilliant  blue  sky 
centred  with  dazzling  white  is  the  historic  royal  castle,  reflecting  in  its  gaunt,  grey  stone  the 
beauty  of  the  summer  day.  The  royal  standard  flutters  from  the  keep.  The  rich  foliage  of 
giant  trees  runs  the  whole  gamut  of  greens  m the  expert  arrangement  of  nature,  from  the 
massed  dark-fohaged  column  m the  foreground  to  the  more  distant  spreading  of  younger 
growths  with  their  touch  of  arboreal  yellow. 

A massive  tree  has  just  been  felled.  Its  shaggy  naked  end  bears  witness  to  the  efficacy 
of  double-handled  saw  and  keen-edged  axe  wielded  by  the  foresters.  Four  hearty  soldier- 
lumbermen  are  grouped  about  the  huge  log  as  they  commence  to  sever  it  again  into  practicable 
and  portable  length.  Another  is  perched  upon  a load  of  these  logs  that  have  been  wrested 
from  their  native  forest  and  are  soon  to  feel  the  tang  of  the  whirring  saw  m the  lumber  mill. 
On  the  extreme  left,  a group  brings  up  a second  team  for  yet  another  load. 

The  picture  is  a document  of  Empire,  a record  of  loyal  labour,  an  epic  of  strength,  with, all 
of  which  it  unites  the  qualities  of  highest  art  and  powerful  decoration. 

Different'  m scheme  and  subject  is  the  other  Canadian  picture  “ The  Third  Stationary 
Hospital,”  (Plate  27).  When  the  British  trench  line  formed  itself  into  an  impassable  barrier 
to  defend  which  men  gave  up  their  limbs  and  lives,  there  sprang  up  m the  villages  and  towns 
behind  them  many — far  too  many — hospitals,  where  the  wounded  defenders  were  cared  for 
and  their  wounds  treated  with  the  utmost  skill  and  kindness.  For  this  sad  purpose,  the  most 
suitable  available  buildings  were  commandeered,  among  them  many  fine  old  French  chateaux. 

One  such,  at  Doullens,  behind  that  part  of  the  line  manned  by  the  Canadian  Divisions,  . 
was  converted  into  and  equipped  as  a stationary  hospital.  Once  it  had  been  one  of  Frances 
finest'  mansions. 

Here  Moira  was  sent  under  the  direction  and  protection  of  the  Canadians  to  obtain  t.he 
data  for  his  decoration  which  was  to  record  for  the  benefit  of  Canada  that  particular  phase 


Plate  31. 

THREE  PANELS, 

In  the  Chancel  at  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge. 
1915-1916. 


Plate  32. 

BLESSING  THE  GOSPELLER. 

In  All  Saints’,  Margaret  Street,  London. 
1920. 


Plate  33. 

PEGWELL  B.AY. 
Water  Colour 
1913. 


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THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


35 


of  the  great  war  in  which  they  took  so  loyally  their  share.  He  remained  there  for  many  weeks, 
becoming  imbued  with  the  wonderful  spirit  of  the  army  and  marvelling  at  the  assiduous, 
gentle,  tender,  never-ceasing  care  bestowed  by  nurses  and  sisters  and  doctors  amid  all  the 
ghastly,  naked  horrors  of  war  on  the  smashed  humanity  that  came  from  the  nearby  trenches 
to  be  patched  up  and  saved  from  death. 

No  man  could  see  all  this  and  fail  to  feel  it  to  the  very  soul.  So  Moira’s  triptych  is  one  of 
his  deepest  works.  It  reveals  at  once  the  spirit  of  tender  love,  the  tragedy  and  wickedness 
of  war,  and  the  phoenix-like  spirit  of  the  wounded  that,  half  recovered  from  their  wounds, 
wrest  joy  out  of  sport  while  waiting  for  their  return  to  the  horrors  of  the  trenches. 

The  centre  panel  depicts  the  chapel  of  the  chateau  converted  into  a receiving  room,  into 
which  the  wounded  are  taken  to  have  their  field-dressings  removed  before  they  are  placed 
m the  wards.  The  fine  old  building  with  its  half-domed  end  from  which  the  Virgin  and 
Child  look  down,  and  with  its  massive  arches,  makes  a splendid,  dignified  background  for 
a typical  army-hospital  scene.  A kind-faced  sister  occupies  the  centre  of  the  panel  ; upon  a 
camp  bed  and  covered  by  a blanket  lies  a wounded  man,  beside  whom  a white-garbed  doctor 
prepares  to  attend  him.  On  the  left  a soldier  limps  one-legged  along  upon  the  arm  of  a 
comrade  ; another  man,  bare  to  the  waist,  is  being  treated  by  two  doctors  m efficient  manner. 

The  left  panel  epitomises  the  convalescent  stage,  when  the  men  have  sufficiently 
recovered  to  be  able  to  benefit  by  the  open  air.  A soldier  lies  m his  camp  bedstead  beneath 
a white  awning  that  shelters  him  from  the  sun.  The  picturesque  town  of  Doullens  is  m the 
centre  of  the  wide  landscape.  A team  of  Americans  indulge  m their  national  game  of  baseball 
below.  A uniformed  officer  wearing  on  his  arm  and  back  the  badges  of  his  Brigade  talks  to 
the  patient,  while  the  gentle  nurses  attend  his  wants.  The  dignified  drapery  of  curtains 
throws  into  the  distance  a curious  tree. 

The  opposite  panel  shows  the  evacuation  of  patients  to  the  Base  Hospital.  An  old 
gateway  of  the  inner  fortifications  stands  erect  m the  middle  of  the  picture  and  the  outer 
wall  of  the  building  is  painted  m sharp  perspective  on  the  right.  Here  and  there  a tree  breaks 
up  the  composition.  In  the  foreground,  stretcher-bearers  carefully  carry  the  patient  to  the 
waiting  ambulance,  while  the  sister  supervises  the  operation. 

Into  the  whole  triptych  Moira  has  contrived  to  instil  a great  feeling  of  sympathy  besides 
creating  a splendid  decoration.  The  white  and  blue  and  red  of  the  costumes  of  the  nurses 
and  the  sisters,  the  rich  colours  of  the  landscapes,  and  the  architectural  beauties  of  the  buildings 
lend  themselves  beneath  his  able  brush  to  the  making  of  a triptych  well  worthy  to  rank  high 
m the  collection  of  decorations  by  all  the  great  artists  of  the  day. 

s s s s s 

Though  these  were  perhaps  Moira’s  most  important  war  paintings,  they  were  not  by  any  War  Memorials 
means  all.  War  memorials  have  been  many  and  have  taken  many  forms — not  a few  have 
been  the  painted  panels  representative  of  some  phase  of  the  war  or  the  connection  with  it  of 
those  whom  the  memorials  were  designed  to  commemorate.  The  Canadian  pictures  fall 
of  course  within  this  class,  but  more  definitely  the  panel  painted  for  Messrs.  Gray,  Dawes 
& Company  provides  a decorative  record. 


36 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


This  picture  is  in  a sense  a border  to  a list  of  names — and  yet  it  is  in  itself  a dramatic 
pictorial  summary  of  the  devastation  and  the  death-dealing  curse  of  war. 

In  the  immediate  foreground  a group  of  young  men,  attired  in  the  various  uniforms  of 
air,  land  and  sea,  indicate  the  sources  from  which  the  Empire  army  was  drawn.  A column 
of  infantry  stretches  marching  down  through  the  rolling  landscape  and  past  the  hop-fields 
of  Kent  to  the  sea.  Down  in  the  hollow  of  the  coast  line  nestles  the  port  of  Dover  with 
Dover  Castle  standing  near,  a landmark  and  a sentinel.  Looking  out  over  the  Channel, 
one  sees  the  familiar  leave  boat  with  its  queer  designs  of  “ camouflage, ’’  and,  just  behind, 
the  equally  familiar  Belgian  leave  boat.  A little  further  out,  escort  destroyers  await  the 
departure  of  the  men  for  the  French  coast,  and,  backing  them  up  again,  destroyers  and  cruisers 
of  the  Fleet  on  the  watch  for  any  indication  of  the  presence  of  the  enemy. 

Across  the  Channel  there  bursts  forth  from  out  the  ground  a veritable  hell  of  fire  and  smoke 
and  terror — the  destination  of  the  young  manhood  assembled  in  lovely  Kent  to  be  marshalled 
for  the  fight.  It  is  a picture  that  is  a war  record  m the  most  literal  sense. 


“ Stations  of 
the  Cross," 
St.  Paul’s, 
Knightsbridge 


Chancel 
Portrait  Panels 


“ Blessing  the 
Gospeller.” 


But  the  war  has  passed,  and  at  its  end  Moira  welcomed  no  less  than  others  the  opportunity 
to  practise  his  art  again  on  subjects  of  peace.  One  of  his  earliest  undertakings  after  it  came 
to  a close  was  a series  of  small  ecclesiastical  decorations,  “ Stations  of  the  Cross,”  for  a London 
church,  St.  Paul’s,  Knightsbridge.  These  are  not  yet  finished.  There  are  to  be  in  all 
fourteen,  but  so  far  only  eleven  of  them  are  in  place.  (Plates  29  and  30). 

Those  of  them  which  are  finished  present  a powerful  series  of  incidents  from  the 
crucifixion  and  within  the  small  and  somewhat  awkward  shape  of  the  cross-shaped  gilt  frames, 
the  artist  has  succeeded  in  achieving  eleven  remarkable  examples  of  unconventional  and 
realistic  ecclesiastical  painting.  He  has  contrived  to  interpret  the  old  story  m a new  way 
and  yet  adhere  to  the  general  conception  of  the  subject.  On  the  bare,  inhospitable  walls 
of  the  church  these  “ Stations  of  the  Cross  ” are  as  gems  set  in  steel. 

These,  however,  are  not  the  only  products  of  Moira’s  genius  m St.  Paul  s.  A series  of 
twelve  panels  set  upon  the  walls  glorify  and  embellish  the  Chancel.  These  are  rectangular 
narrow  panels  three  feet  m height  bearing  each  the  portrait  of  a dignitary  of  the  Church. 
(Plate  31). 

Each  one  of  these  panels  is  an  erect  portrait  painted  with  a wealth  of  gorgeous  colour. 
These  ecclesiastics  in  their  rich  robes  of  office  offered  Moira  an  excellent  opportunity  for  the 
use  of  his  sense  of  decoration,  an  opportunity  of  which  he  took  full  advantage,  and  the 
flaming  reds  and  golds  and  purples  add  life  to  the  somewhat  austere  blankness  of  the 
walls.  The  portraits  are,  moreover,  powerful  and  living  presentations,  and,  looking  at  them, 
one  feels  oneself  in  the  presence  of  the  great. 

Yet  another  ecclesiastical  work,  and  perhaps  the  most  important  single  canvas,  is  the 
“ Blessing  of  the  Gospels  ” in  All  Saints’,  Margaret  Street. 

The  ceremony  of  ” Blessing  the  Gospeller  ” takes  place  on  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul  s day 
every  year.  Moira’s  picture  of  it  is  about  ten  feet  by  eight  in  size  (Plate  32).  Beneath  the 
light  of  candles  in  gold  candelabra  and  the  swirling  of  the  fumes  of  holy  incense,  the  Rev. 


Plate  34. 

MISTRESS  DOROTHY  HAZARD  DEFENDS  THE  FROME  GATE. 

From  a decoration  in  the  Council  Chamber,  City  Hall,  Bristol 

1917. 


Plate  33. 

THE  ATLANTIC  OCEAN. 

Decoration  in  the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 
1922. 


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THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


37 


Geoffrey  Held  kneels  before  the  Bishop  of  Nassau.  The  Bishop,  his  strong,  resolute  face 
set  off  by  his  magnificent  robes  of  gold  with  sleeves  of  chiffon  shot  with  scarlet,  recites  the 
Gospel  from  the  open  page  of  a book  held  in  the  hands  m the  kneeling  priest.  Clad  m robes 
of  wonderful  scarlet  emblazoned  with  gold,  the  Vicar,  the  Reverend  McKay,  stands  erect, 
hands  clasped  in  prayer.  The  Master  of  Ceremonies,  clothed  m evening  dress,  survival 
of  those  days  when  his  predecessors  attended  m full  burnished  armour,  looks  on,  arms  folded. 
Choristers  m scarlet  and  white  are  seen  at  the  edge  of  the  picture,  and  two  officials  m lace-edged 
capes  hold  aloft  lighted  candles  m golden  candlesticks,  while  another  carries  the  incense. 

In  the  background  of  the  picture  are  vaguely  seen  other  pictures,  the  pipes  of  an  organ 
and  the  gothic  tracery  of  altar  arches.  Above  is  inscribed,  m Latin,  the  Gospel  of  the  Day. 

s s s s s 

Among  his  later  works  Moira  has  contributed  a decoration  as  one  of  a series  of  large 
panels  for  the  Council  Chamber  in  the  Council  House  of  Bristol.  The  panels  were  each  filled  with 
a decoration  illustrating  some  incident  in  Bristol’s  history,  and  Moira,  for  his  picture,  chose 
that  extraordinary  scene  when  Mistress  Dorothy  Hazard,  a woman  of  Cromwellian  times, 
and,  moreover,  of  Cromwellian  courage,  defended  her  beloved  city  against  the  invading 
forces  of  Rupert.  (Plate  32). 

The  story  goes  that  Rupert  had  been  greatly  successful  m these  Western  counties  and 
when  he  marched  upon  Bristol  in  1643  with  his  victory-satiated  troops,  his  record  of  un- 
conquerabihty  preceded  him  and  cast  such  fear  into  the  hearts  of  the  governor  and  the  garrison 
that,  in  the  hope  of  securing  better  terms  than  would  be  the  portion  of  a conquered  city,  they 
proposed  to  surrender  without  a fight. 

Not  so  Mistress  Dorothy.  Nothing  of  the  fear  of  the  Royalists  about  her.  Raging  against 
the  pusillanimous  policy  of  the  governor,  she  decided  that  if  men-at-arms  would  not  do  their 
duty,  she,  with  the  aid  of  the  washerwomen  of  the  city,  would  show  them  how.  So,  gathering 
around  her  all  the  womenfolk  and  such  of  the  soldiers  as  would  react  to  her  dauntless 
enthusiasm  and  obey  her  commands  she  waited  at  the  Frome  gate,  prepared  to  defend  it  with 
woolsacks  and  with  blankets  and  with  life. 

And  such  IS  the  marvellous  power  of  great  courage  that  these  women,  backed  up  by  a 
handful  of  soldiery  and  a piece  or  two  of  inadequate  artillery,  repulsed  the  invaders  and  won 
everlasting  glory,  putting  to  shame  the  weakness  of  the  governor  whose  valour  had  been 
dissipated  by  the  mere  echo  of  Rupert  s past  successes. 

Moira  has  contrived  to  put  into  this  picture  all  the  romance  and  the  strangeness  of  the 
scene  of  preparation  at  the  Frome  gate.  Mistress  Dorothy,  majestic  in  her  courage  and 
resplendent  in  black  velvet  dress  and  scarlet  cape,  exhorts  her  supporters  to  effort  and  directs 
the  arrangements  for  the  reception  of  the  Royalists.  A seething  mob  of  valiant  women  rush 
hither  and  thither  m the  frenzy  of  hasty  preparation.  Toiling  men  strain  at  the  rope  of  a 
heavy  cannon.  On  the  battlemented  wall  above  the  gate  itself  the  flag  of  the  city  is  hoisted 
as  a signal  to  the  approaching  army  that  resistance  will  be  made,  and  soldiers  in  armour  prepare 
to  give  battle. 


“ Mistress 
Dorothy  Hazard 
defends  the 
Frome  Gate, 
Bristol." 


38 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


Rio  de  Janeiro 

Exhibition 

Pieces. 


The  Queen’s 
Doll’s  House- 


The  citadel-like  gateway  and  its  tower,  built  of  solid  masonry,  loom  up  repellantly, 
and  through  an  arch  of  St.  John’s  Church  on  the  city  walls  one  glimpses  the  rolling  landscape 
over  which  the  Royalists  must  come.  The  quaint  squared  portcullis  adds  its  decorative  effect 
to  the  strange  scene.  The  city  arms  graven  on  the  wall  serve  as  inspiration  for  the  defenders. 
The  cobbled  street  adds  realism  and  quamtness  to  the  picture. 

It  IS  an  interesting  as  well  as  a beautiful  representation,  and  Moira  has  well  justified  his 
reputation  as  a decorator  m this  pictorial  reproduction  of  one  of  those  incidents  of  splendid 
courage  with  which  English  history  abounds. 

s s s ■ s s 

The  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  provided  an  opportunity  such  as 
Moira  delights  m.  For  this  great  festival  he  undertook  a tremendous  triptych  and  two  large 
panels. 

The  decorations  for  one  of  the  large  halls  at  the  Exhibition  were  to  consist  of  a series  of 
paintings  allegorically  representing  the  Five  Oceans.  Three  of  the  five  were  given  to  Gerald 
Moira  : the  Atlantic,  the  Arctic  and  the  Antarctic. 

The  triptych  was  devoted  to  the  Atlantic  Ocean  and  the  two  separate  panels  to  the  Arctic 
and  the  Antarctic  Oceans  respectively.  These  splendid  examples  of  the  art  of  Gerald  Moira 
are  reproduced  m these  pages  (Plates  35  and  36).  The  triptych,  gay  and  riotous  in  colour, 
curiously  combines  the  gaiety  and  the  seriousness  of  the  peoples  that  inhabit  the  shores  of 
the  majestic  Ocean. 

The  panels  are  austere  and  dignified.  The  ice-blue  cold  of  the  Poles  is  revealed  at  the 
same  time  as  the  majesty  of  their  great  wastes.  The  two  figures  by  means  of  which  the  artist 
has  personified  the  Arctic  and  the  Antarctic  Oceans,  and  the  towering  icebergs,  bespeak  the 
wonder  and  immensity  of  their  rigorous  beauty. 

s s s s s 

I cannot  close  this  summary  of  Moira’s  works  without  reference  to  a task  on  which  he  is 
just  now  engaged,  a task  of  singular  and  unusual  interest. 

It  IS  a ceiling  decoration  m miniature.  A year  "or  more  ago,  that  indefatigable  and 
brilliant  architect.  Sir  Edwin  L.  Lutyens,  R.A.,  drew  up  plans  for  a presentation  doll  s house 
for  Her  Majesty  the  Queen.  The  building  was  to  be  unique,  a perfect  model  of  a palatial 
residence  about  ten  feet  by  eight,  the  joint  work  of  all  the  most  eminent  artists  of  the  time, 
complete  with  sculpture,  mural  decorations,  pictures  and  period  furniture,  and  equipped  with 
all  the  necessities  of  so  magnificent,  if  diminutive,  a residence,  even  down-to  the  silver  faucets 
that  control  the  water  for  the  tiny  baths. 

There  was  hardly  a distinguished  Royal  Academician  who  was  not  to  contribute  to  this 
curious  little  model  of  splendour,  nor  a famous  manufacturer  whose  name  stands  for  some 
household  thing  that  is  the  best  of  its  kind,  who  was  not  to  donate  something  of  his  special 
manufacture.  Her  Majesty  accepted  the  gift,  and  the  artists  enthusiastically  began.  Moira 
IS  designing,  making  and  decorating  the  ceiling  of  the  Dining  Room,  which  is  forty-two  inches 
m length,  and  twenty  m width.  The  ceiling  is  divided  into  a number  of  panels,  all  dominated 
by  a comparatively  large  oval  ceritre  panel. 


I 


Plate  36. 


THE  ARCTIC  OCEAN. 

Decorative  panel  in  the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

1922. 


THE  ANTARCTIC  OCEAN. 

Decorative  panel  in  the  Brazil  Centenary  Exhibition  at  Rio  de  Janeiro. 

1922. 


THE  ART  OF  GERALD  MOIRA 


39 


It  IS  delightfully  done.  In  the  centre  panel,  a goddess  of  Plenty  holds  sway  from  the 
height  of  the  clouds,  floating  about  the  building.  From  a high  balcony  of  the  palace,  seen  rising 
into  the  clouds,  an  orchestra  discourses  sweet  music.  About  the  goddess  the  four  rectangular 
corner  panels  are  filled  with  fauns  and  nymphs  who  bring  to  her  from  the  terrestrial  sphere 
the  fruits  of  the  earth  and  the  richness  thereof.  In  the  four  panels  that  surround  the  centre 
oval,  allegorical  figures  represent  the  four  seasons  and  illustrate  the  beneficence  of  Providence. 

Small  as  the  whole  ceiling  is  it  is  an  exquisite  little  piece  of  work,  and,  when  it  is  mounted 
in  its  place  above  the  diminutive  walls  and  bears  the  perfect  little  chandeliers  and  candelabra 
that  It  IS  destined  to  support,  will  be  well  calculated  to  charm  and  attract  all  who  see  it,  even 
where  all  its  surroundings  compete  in  charm  and  attraction. 

He  IS  also  designing  the  colour  scheme  of  the  walls,  and  painting  the  miniature  portraits 
that  are  to  adorn  them.  Moreover,  in  order  that  the  whole  room  shall  be  in  perfect  keeping 
with  the  ceiling,  he  will  design  the  over-doors,  which  are  to  be  in  grisaille  and  the  luxurious 
little  carpet  for  the  room’s  floor. 

It  IS  a singular  testimony  to  the  versatility  of  his  art  that  at  the  same  time  as  he  is  working 
on  this  miniature  and  composite  creation,  he  is  also  engaged  on  a decoration  sixteen  feet  m 
width  which  IS  to  form  a war  memorial  for  the  Union  Jack  Club. 

This  latest  work  is  not  sufficiently  far  advanced  to  allow  of  description  in  any  detail, 
but  the  cartoon  and  the  colour  scheme — in  so  far  as  the  latter  is  already  carried  out — indicate 
that  this  will  be  not  the  least  worthy  of  a place  in  the  list  of  Gerald  Moira’s  works. 

s s s s s 

Thus  through  many  different  channels  of  art  has  Moira  added  to  the  works  of  art  of  the 
present  day.  Coloured  plaster,  stained  glass,  mosaic  and  mural  paintings  have  all  come 
within  his  scope  and  been  utilised  for  the  embellishment  and  enrichment  of  buildings  as  various 
in  their  nature  and  their  destiny  as  they  have  been  numerous.  Thus  has  this  distinguished 
artist  shown  how  intimate,  how  much  the  concern  of  all  classes,  is  the  art  of  mural  decoration, 
how  manifold  its  purpose,  and  how  infinitely  wide  its  service. 

The  power  of  Moira’s  art  is  as  great  and  telling,  and  bears  as  much  the  quality  of  fitness, 
as  did  that  of  the  masters  of  previous  generations  and  centuries.  Applied,  as  it  has  been, 
equally  to  restaurant,  to  shop,  to  church,  to  private  residence,  it  bears  living,  potent  witness 
to  a wonderful  field  that  has  hitherto  either  been  ignored  by  great  painters  or  passed  over  as 
unv/orthy  their  best  efforts. 

Moira  IS  one  of  those  artists  who  has  never  been  content  to  imitate  others.  His  work 
bears  throughout  the  traces  of  his  own  originality  and  ability.  Surveyed  as  a whole,  it  has 
of  course  shown  in  the  later  years  a more  experienced  technique  than  in  the  earlier  years, 
but  not  at  any  time  since  he  began  his  career  as  a mural  decorator  has  there  been  any  doubt 
of  his  rank.  With  his  innate  ability  coupled  to  his  high  purpose  m devoting  his  art  also  to  the 
common  uses  of  life  rather  than  reserving  it,  as  once  it  was  reserved,  for  great  churches  and 
palaces,  he  has  marked  an  epoch  m the  application  of  Decorative  Art.  Henceforward,  it  is  not 
too  much  to  expect  that  one  day  the  general  public  will  learn  to  love  and  admire  great  paintings 
because  great  paintings  will  surround  them  m all  the  places  where  they  are  wont  to  assemble. 
Certainly,  Gerald  Moira’s  ambition  and  striving — yea,  and  achievement,  to  this  end,  are 
magnificent. 


Union  Jack  Club 
War  Memorial. 


PART  II. 

SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS 
ON  DECORATIVE  ART. 

By  Gerald  Moira. 


'■if''"* 

'li 


I 


) 


I. 


43 


RT  to-day  IS  suffering  from  archaeology.  The  criticism  one 
hears,  whether  of  painting,  sculpture,  architecture  or  design, 
IS  generally  prefaced  by  “ it  is  so  beautifully  Titianesque  ” 
or  “ it  IS  such  pure  Gothic,”  and  if  the  work  is  modern  and 
does  not  directly  recall  the  past  or  cannot  be  definitely  fixed 
on  to  this  or  that  it  is  usually  either  made  the  subject  of  adverse 
criticism  or  left  well  alone. 

The  comparison  between  old  and  new  is  the  easiest  form 
of  criticism.  The  mere  culling  and  “ swattmg-up  ” of  ancient 
arts  are  comparatively  easy,  but  the  ability  to  form  an  accurate 
judgment  and  an  unprejudiced  opinion  upon  the  few  works  that  are  really  modern  is  more 
difficult  of  acquisition  and  requires  a sound  education  in  art.  This,  undoubtedly,  is  the 
reason  why  archaeology  has  been  so  fashionable. 

The  way  of  the  old  men  was  certainly  better.  In  architecture  they  added  their  style 
to  what  existed  or  pulled  down  what  was  m their  way.  This  was  far  more  honest  dealing  than 
what  happens  to-day,  when  the  architect  m adding  to  a Gothic  church  must  make  his  addition 
in  imitation  Gothic,  and  the  mural  decorator  is  called  m to  do  Gothic  decoration  which 
generally  ends  m rows  of  ” kiss-mammy  ” angels  m over-embroidered  white  nighties  standing 
about  on  cotton-wool  clouds  and  sucking  tin  trumpets.  What  is  the  good  of  this  to  either 
art  or  religion  ? 

We  have  no  architecture  to-day.  When  an  architect  talks  of  following  tradition  he 
means  being  traditional.  On  the  other  hand,  when  the  serious  painter  talks  of  tradition 
he  means  adding  his  interpretation  of  nature  to  the  interpretation  of  nature  of  the  men  of 
the  past. 

These  widely  separated  points  of  view  result  from  the  diverse  curricula  which  artists 
and  architects  are  called  upon  to  pass  through,  the  education  each  is  required  to  assimilate. 
Whereas  to-day  the  painter  begins  his  real  education  m art  from  nature,  the  architect  begins 
his  with  archaeology,  with  studying  the  orders,  with  making  full  size  drawings  of  Greek  caps 
and  so  on,  instead  of  getting  down  to  the  hard  facts  of  plan  construction.  The  result  of  all 
this  is  that  when  a painter  executes  a decoration  in  a modern  theme  he  is  usually  doomed 
to  disappointment  because  he  finds  it  out  of  sympathy  with  the  surrounding  architecture, 
as  the  building  is  only  an  incompatible  echo  of  the  past.  Giotto  was  lucky  ; he  was  more 
favoured.  When  he  did  his  great  work  at  Assisi  he  was  painting  in  architecture  of  his  time, 
which  explains  why  that  work  of  his  is  so  eminently  satisfactory  : it  is  so  completely  an 
enrichment  of  a building  erected  by  a man  who  thought  in  the  art  language  in  which  they 
both  lived. 

But  I feel  that  a change  is  coming  about.  It  may  be  that  the  great  war  will  prove  to  have 
been  the  beginning  of  a new  era  and  that  the  economy  that  has  been  forced  upon  us  will  bring 
about  the  birth  of  a new  period  m architecture  for  the  very  simple  reason  that  it  will  compel, 
in  many  cases,  the  use  of  cheaper  materials.  Concrete  and  steel  will  perhaps  after  all  be  our 
salvation  and  will  give  the  mural  decorator  his  great  chance. 


44 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


It  yet  remains  to  be  seen  whether  any  of  the  younger  generation  of  architects  will  grasp 
this  opportunity  fully  and  so  come  into  line  with  the  painter  who  has  for  so  long  only  been 
rnarkmg  time. 

It  IS  a very  difficult  question  this,  the  old  problem  of  the  difference  or  disparity  m the 
sister  arts  ; whether  it  is  not  possible,  whether  it  would  not  be  advisable  to  control  this  disparity 
between  them  by  keeping  a stronger  hand  upon  the  one  or  the  other.  This  I have  always 
advocated,  for  I am  firmly  convinced  that  it  would  be  quite  possible,  in  a school,  to  teach 
and  tram  architects  m just  the  same  way  as  students  are  trained  and  taught  who  desire  to 
devote  their  attention  to  portrait  painting,  illustration,  mural  decoration  and  so  on.  These 
students  are  not  all  put  through  the  same  old  mill.  They  are  taken  separately,  and  each  is  given 
a different  curriculum  m accordance  with  the  particular  branch  he  wishes  to  follow  ; that  is 
to  say,  they  are  dealt  with  as  individuals  and  not  as  period  students  or  as  so  many  people  m 
classes  with  no  reference  either  to  the  individual  or  to  the  individual’s  hopes. 

So  really  we  are  tying  to  the  hand  of  architectural  education  the  weight  that  is  keeping 
the  mural  decorator  down.  Architectural  education  is  too  archaeological.  One  hears  over 
and  over  again  that  the  architect  must  give  his  client  what  he  wants.  That  is  all  nonsense — 
nearly  all  clients  are  only  too  anxious  to  have  that  which  is  different  from  what  his  neighbour 
possesses,  provided  that  it  contains  convenient  and  economic  planning — and  really  these  are 
the  only  restrictions  placed  upon  an  architect. 


II. 


45 


URAL  decoration  can  be  divided  into  three  categories  : 
ecclesiastic,  civic,  and  domestic.  Early  ecclesiastical  decoration, 
which  was  generally  confined  to  narrow  lines  and  was  of 
necessity  governed  by  dogma,  gave  far  less  opportunity  for 
originality,  but  what  was  lost  in  this  direction  was  undoubtedly 
gained  in  the  intensity  of  real  religious  feeling  that  was  displayed 
by  the  artist  in  the  subject,  because  in  very  early  Church 
decorative  painting  the  artist  was  not  even  allowed  the  choice 
of  his  models,  and  yet  it  is  very  curious  that  throughout  this 
dark  time  the  artist’s  fervour  was  practically  the  only  thing 
that  kept  the  Church  together. 

But  the  whole-hearted  sincerity  which  we  so  admire  in  the  great  Giotto,  caused  him  to 
fall  away  from  the  common  usage  that  had  maintained  for  many  centuries,  i.e.,  the  use  of 
the  artist  merely  as  a means  of  preserving  the  dogma  of  the  Church,  and  he  was  one  of  the  first 
to  use  secular  subjects  m ecclesiastic  decoration.  By  so  doing  he  brought  into  this  art  warmth, 
the  divine  possibilities  of  human  life  hitherto  unknown. 

After  the  long  period  during  which  his  great  influence  lasted  came  the  flamboyant 
decoration  of  the  Renaissance  with  all  its  magnificence,  but  how  much  more  distant,  how 
much  less  intimate  to  the  soul  in  sorrow  than  the  simple  interpretations  of  the  Bible  and 
Testament  of  those  early  Italians.  It  is  difficult  to  say  much  about  mural  decoration  after 
these  two  periods,  for  it  dwindled  away  to  the  feeble  representation  of  individuals  and  became 
just  so  much  ornament. 

But  whatever  is  done  in  ecclesiastical  decoration,  it  must  have  education  for  its  fundamental 
base,  and  I am  quite  certain  that  nothing  can  save  this  form  of  art  but  the  introduction  into 
it  of  modern  people  and  modern  costume.  It  is  the  only  way  to  bring  the  Church  teaching 
within  reach  of  the  people.  In  the  early  Italian  and  mediaeval  periods  of  art  it  was  the  close 
intimacy  between  the  Church  and  the  masses  that  made  the  Church  so  strong,  and  who  but 
the  artists  cemented  this  relationship  ? And  the  artists  should  again  show  the  way. 

Civic  art  to-day  has  a far  wider  scope  than  that  which  it  covered  during  the  hey-day  of 
Italian  art.  Then,  it  generally  meant  the  decoration  of  the  Council-Chamber  and  closely 
connected  offices,  but  to-day  civic  art  covers  much  more  ground  and  I think  we  can  safely 
include  the  factory  and  its  recreative  rooms  as  well  as  the  school,  the  public  bath,  the  eating 
house,  the  shop,  the  exhibition  building  (temporary  or  permanent),  the  hotel,  the  great  ship, 
(and  why  not,  m the  near  future,  the  flying  ship  ?)  and  ever  so  many  more  buildings  and 
utilities. 

It  IS  this  civic  decorative  art  or  public  decoration  that  opens  such  a wide  vista  of 
possibilities  for  the  mural  decorator  of  to-day.  All  these  opportunities  are  at  our  door,  but 
the  artist  has  yet  to  show  the  public  that  he  is  willing  to  treat  much  of  the  work  only  as 
temporary  decoration — because  it  is  that  feeling  that  once  done  it  cannot  be  got  rid  of  that, 
I feel  sure,  deters  the  public  from  undertaking  such  decoration,  and  therefore  prevents  a lot 
of  good  work  ever  seeing  the  light  of  day. 


46 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


What  IS  he  to  do  ? I say  that,  first  of  all,  he  must  come  off  that  ridiculous  pedestal  on 
which  he  stands,  and,  to  begin  with,  measure  his  work  by  the  linear  foot  and  estimate  for 
it  by  the  foot  fixed.  He  must  be  a business  man  for  once  ; after  all,  he  is  doing  the  work 
for  a living,  and  the  shopkeeper  keeps  a shop  for  the  same  purpose.  The  shopkeeper  will 
quote  you  the  price  of  his  goods  by  their  quantity — why  should  not  the  artist  ? And  we 
very  well  know  that  m days  passed  by  artists  worked  thus — and  some  very  good  artists  there 
were  among  them,  too.  Did  not  Rubens  haggle  with  the  King  of  England  over  the  price  of 
the  ceiling  at  Whitehall,  and  then,  after  having  cut  it  pretty  fine,  decline  to  deliver  the  work 
until  he  had  received  the  money  ? 

Very  little  encouragement  or  advancement  to  art  has  ever  come  from  bodies  or 
corporations;  most  encouragement  has  been  through  the  individual  patron  in  the  past — 
and  I believe  that  the  individual  patron  of  to-day  is  and  will  be  the  person  to  look  to  for 
encouragement  to  decorative  art,  rather  than  the  County  or  City  Council.  In  this  term 
individual  patron  I include  the  proprietors  or  companies  carrying  on  the  shop,  the  factory, 
the  steamship,  the  eating  house,  etc.,  etc.  The  principal  reason  is  that  such  patrons  know 
what  they  want,  and  they  want  it  more  or  less  directly  to  attract  their  clients  or  customers. 
I think  that  this  is  a very  strong  inducement  to  the  artist  to  take  an  interest  m this  kind  of 
work,  besides  which,  all  this  class  of  decoration  can  be,  and  should  be,  symbolical  of  our 
own  time. 

For  public  CIVIC  decoration  there  is  little  encouragement  to-day  ; lack  of  funds  is 
generally  the  excuse  when  the  interior  of  the  building  comes  to  be  completed.  I always 
feel  that  too  much  is  lavished  m sculptural  figures  and  ornament  placed  too  high  up  on  these 
buildings  in  cities  to  allow  their  being  seen  to  advantage  in  the  narrow  streets.  I contend 
that  much  of  the  money  usually  expended  in  this  manner  should  be  used  for  interior  decora- 
tion— if  this  would  be  the  means  of  permitting  the  interior  to  be  finished. 

One  never  hears  of  the  architect  having  trouble  with  the  City  Council  over  the  sculpture 
account,  but  let  him  mention  interior  mural  decoration  and  his  Council  is  “on  him  like  a pack 
of  wolves.”  But  it  will  come  ; it  only  wants  some  enterprising  City  Council  to  insist  upon 
having  all  the  enrichment  inside  these  new  buildings — and  in  paint,  not  stone — instead  of 
outside,  and  the  lot  will  follow  suit  so  as  to  be  in  the  fashion. 

Still,  with  all  these  hopes,  there  is  a far  greater  limitation  of  subject,  and  not  onlv  of 
subject,  but  also  of  artistic  possibilities,  than  there  is  m the  other  class  of  civic  decoration 
I have  just  dealt  with  ; the  connection  with  direct  production  m the  one  case,  and  the 
difficulty  of  ever  hoping  to  convey  the  various  functions  of  a City  Council  in  the  other,  are 
very  wide  and  are  against  the  City  Council,  and  it  is  only  with  allegory  as  subject  that  this 
kind  of  decoration  can  satisfactorily  be  treated.  At  the  same  time,  the  longer  one’s  experi- 
ence, the  more  one  comes  to  the  conclusion  that  allegory  is  the  least  satisfactory  theme  as 
a basis  for  large  mural  work.  It  dates  quickly,  thereby  becoming  old-fashioned  sooner  than 
a simple  everyday  subject,  and  once  the  spirit  of  the  times  that  inspired  it  has  passed,  it  can 
naturally  never  return,  whereas  with  the  subject  of  our  own  time  the  out-of-fashion  period 
IS  very  short.  How  very  valuable  is  the  work  of  Hogarth,  Wilkie,  Frith,  for  instance,  as  real 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


47 


historians,  and  how  stale  and  lacking  in  real  interest  is  that  of  Thornhill  and  many  others 
who  devoted  their  art  to  allegory.  Although  Frith  never  attempted  mural  decoration,  his 
work  had  the  making  of  sound  decorative  composition. 

The  opportunities  afforded  by  the  vast  modern  stores,  offices,  and  the  like,  give  great 
scope  to  the  decorator  who,  m an- honest  and  straightforward  way,  will  represent  the  times 
and  the  life  in  which  we  live  as  he  sees  them  and  feels  them,  and  without  any  taint  of 
reminiscence,  which,  by  the  way,  is  one  of  the  cardinal  sms  of  the  art  of  to-day. 

As  for  domestic  mural  decoration — is  there  any  domestic  decoration  now  ? Has 
there  been  any  domestic  decoration  in  the  last  few  centuries  ? None  to  speak  of,  since 
Elizabethan  and  Stuart  times.  Perhaps  a few  large  mansions  lavishly  decorated,  but  no  great 
wave  of  fashion  for  the  decoration  of  the  middle-class  merchant’s,  farmer’s  or  small  country 
gentleman’s  house  as  there  was  in  the  16th  and  17th  centuries,  a period  which  is  certainly 
one  of  the  most  interesting  pages  of  English  mural  decoration  that  we  have.  The  wealth 
of  the  decoration  of  this  time  is  constantly  being  unfolded  as  the  Queen  Anne  or  Georgian 
panelling  is  stripped  from  Elizabethan  rooms  in  such  small  manor  houses  as  abound  m,  say, 
Gloucestershire  and  Dorset,  shewing  always  that  delightful  intimate  relation  between  the 
owner  and  his  home  which  is  of  such  great  value  to-day,  not  only  from  the  historian’s  point 
of  view,  but  which  goes  to  prove  that  these  good  people  were  not  ashamed  of  their  lives, 
their  trade,  or  their  profession,  and  were  quite  pleased  to  have  the  artist  represent  them  on 
their  walls  pursuing  that  trade  or  profession.  This  history  of  their  everyday  lives  was 
generally  depicted  m panels  with  painted  mouldings  surrounded  by  floral  decoration  much 
enriched  by  armorial  emblems.  What  honest  pride  in  that  everyday  life,  and  what 
delightful  simplicity  m the  depicting  of  it  by  those  artists,  tramping  from  house  to  house  ; 
and  how  little  they  knew  what  valuable  pages  of  England’s  history  they  were  writing. 

What  brought  this  school  of  mural  decoration  to  an  end  ? Little  or  nothing  was  done 
during  or  after  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  Was  it  the’ architecture  that  came  to  England  at 
that  time  ? Or  was  it  some  subtle  change  m the  mode  of  life  of  the  people  ? A certain 
artificiality  began  to  creep  into  the  mode  of  life  about  this  time,  which  continued  throughout 
the  Georgian  period,  and  the  architecture  became  definitely  formal  m its  set  panelling.  These 
things  may  have  had  their  effect,  but  what  had  more  to  do  with  the  breaking  of  this  fine 
tradition  was  “ the  picture.”  The  picture  became  more  easy  to  procure,  more  fashionable, 
and,  of  course,  more  portable.  It  was  this  portability  and  the  fact  that  the  people  at  this 
time  began  to  travel,  that  made  the  home  far  less  the  centre  of  life,  and  therefore  less 
interesting. 

Is  there  any  hope,  any  possibility,  of  revising  this  domestic  decoration  ? If  there  is, 
of  course  it  cannot  be  on  those  lines,  for  the  man  of  to-day  does  not  want  his  everyday  life 
depicted  on  the  walls  of  his  room  ; and  the  ordinary  man  is  not  sufficiently  interested  in  or 
proud  of  his  business  and,  moreover,  he  is  afraid  of  his  friends’  opinion.  And  yet  I know  a 
man  in  the  north  of  England  who  has  two  large  paintings  depicting  his  factory  m his  grand- 
father’s time,  and  he  delights  to  compare  the  factory  of  the  pictures  witn  the  actual  factory 
as  it  IS  to-day.  Here,  again,  we  only  want  the  brave  patron  who  is  willing  to  start  the  ball. 


48 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


Still,  there  Is  a wider  scope  for  domestic  decoration  than  merely  this  intimate  one,  and 
one  cannot  help  feeling  how  much  the  man  who  is  compelled  to  live  in  some  dreary 
manufacturing  town  misses  by  not  decorating  his  rooms  from  floor  to  ceiling  with  gay 
landscape  or  something  of  that  sort,  and  the  scope  and  pleasure  this  would  give  to  the  artist 
on  the  one  hand  and  to  the  patron  on  the  other.  And  this  notwithstanding  the  fact  that  such 
a man  is  often  willing  to  pay  very  large  sums  of  money  to  cover  the  walls  of  his  drawing-room 
with  some  silk  damask,  which  won’t  last  so  long  nor  be  so  satisfactory  as  good  paintings — 
and  the  cost  would  be  nearly  the  same.  In  this  class  of  decoration  I think  the  patron  is 
waiting  for  a lead  to  be  given  him,  the  artist  waiting  for  the  opportunity  ; the  onus  therefore 
rests  with  the  architect ; it  is  for  him  to  give  way,  and,  in  considering  the  interior  enrichment, 
to  give  more  consideration  to  colour  and  less  to  architectural  mouldings,  as  it  is  far  away 
more  satisfactory  to  trust  to  colour  scheme  than  to  embark  on  that  very  difficult  problem 
of  trying  to  carry  a harmony  over  a number  of  mouldings  and  intervening  spaces. 

I have,  in  a very  limited  space,  tried  to  divide  mural  decoration  into  its  three  principal 
spheres — ecclesiastic,  civic,  and  domestic.  Civic,  I hope,  I have  proved  to  be  at  the  present 
time  m a most  hopeful  and  healthy  condition,  because  of  its  wide  scope,  its  direct 
interest  to  the  community  and  its  great  and  comprehensive  possibilities  to  the  resourceful 
and  imaginative  artist — qualities  which  are  most  essential  to  the  well-being  of  this  young 
and  healthy  reborn  child  of  art,  who  with  these  attributes  should  go  far  and  prosper.  For 
the  other  two,  ecclesiastic  and  domestic,  one  cannot  hold  out  quite  such  great  hopes,  but, 
taking  one  with  the  other,  I suppose  the  Church  decoration  has,  at  all  events,  the  one  saving 
grace,  i.e.,  that  its  subject  is  staple,  founded  on  education  as  it  is,  and  whether  treated  as  I 
suggested,  or  on  worn  traditional  lines,  it  has  a firm  founilation  as  a jumping-off  point,  and 
will  only  require  courage.  But  what  courage  on  the  part  of  the  clergy,  the  artist  and  the 
layman  to  break  through  this  stupid  convention  that  the  poor  thing  is  suffering  from  to-day. 
Whereas  domestic  decoration  is  m a far  worse  plight  ; its  complaint  is  difficult — nay,  almost 
impossible — to  diagnose  : it  is  so  much  in  the  air.  Therefore  to  make  this  form  of 

decoration  strong  enough  to  take  its  proper  place,  the  prominent  place  to  which  it  is  m all 
reason  entitled,  it  requires  the  utmost  collaboration  between  the  architect  and  the  painter, 
and  only  by  this  close  sympathetic  unity  can  any  hope  for  its  future  be  made  possible.  But 
so  long  as  the  architect  is  content  to  leave  such  matters  in  the  hands  of  tradesmen,  so  long 
shall  we  have  the  same  dreary  and  hopeless  prospects  for  this  most  interesting  and  widely 
possible  form  of  decorative  art.  I have  never  quite  understood  why  an  architect  should 
not  show  the  same  lavish  interest  and  initiative  m the  interior  decoration  of  the  house  as  is 
generally  bestowed  on  its  exterior  decoration  and  enrichment.  People  do  not  live  outside 
their  houses,  and  it  cannot  be  that  the  architect  thinks  that  the  outside  is  seen  more  than 
the  inside  ; that  would  be  ridiculous — and  yet  it  seems  to  be  the  accepted  rule  so  often  to 
finish  the  exterior  to  the  last  chip  and  leave  the  interior  to  look  after  itself  ! 


III. 


49 


HERE  is  a vast  difference  between  the  easel  painter,  as  he 
is  called,  or  the  painter  who  paints  within  a frame,  and  the 
decorator.  The  first  has  no  restrictions  put  upon  him.  He 
is  free  as  to  scale,  free  as  to  colour,  free  in  the  choice  of  the 
mouldings  around  the  work,  and  utterly  ignorant  as  to  its 
ultimate  resting  place  and  surroundings. 

This  all  tends  not  only  to  a looseness  of  scale,  in  its 
broader  sense,  I’.e.,  with  regard  to  accurate  arrangement,  and 
distribution  of  weight  of  colour  value  as  distinct  from  tone 
distribution,  but  also,  I feel,  leads  to  the  rather  aimless 
attitude  towards  subject  which  is  so  deplorable  in  modern  work.  In  fact,  the  easel  painter 
knows  no  laws. 

If  we  stop  to  think  what  are  the  conditions  of  the  decorator,  I think  we  find  the  obvious 
ones,  scale  of  figure,  preservation  of  wall  surface  as  a flat  plane,  and  weight  of  darks ; and  those 
that,  being  technical,  are  not  so  obvious,  but  are,  if  anything,  even  more  important.  First 
among  these  comes  arrangement  of  tonality,  i.e.,  one  must  have  an  arrangement  of  nicely 
distributed  darks  upon  a field  of  half  tone  with  a pattern  of  small  lights  passing  right  through 
the  composition,  or  alternatively  a light  field  with  the  half-tones  nicely  distributed,  and  m this 
case  the  pattern  in  the  darks.  But  there  is  one  thing  one  cannot  have,  and  that  is  the  half- 
tone and  the  light  or  the  half-tone  and  the  dark  taking  up  the  same  amount  of  surface  on  the 
field,  because  in  this  case  the  result  would  of  necessity  be  a tone  distribution  monotonous  and 
lacking  in  vitality. 

Then  there  is  the  question  of  colour  value.  This  is  even  more  difficult  and  complicated 
than  the  study  of  tonality,  because  here  one  has  counterchange  plus  balance,  tone  and  harmony. 
What  I call  counterchange,  for  want  of  a better  word,  is  balance  in  change  of  colour  ; and 
balance  is  practically  the  same  m all  colour  tone.  Of  course,  m tone  value  and  harmony, 
possession  of  the  necessary  appreciation  of  colour  to  harmonise  inside  the  decoration,  as 
well  as  with  its  surroundings,  is  essential. 

Counter  change,  I am  pretty  certain,  can  be  measured  up  very  much  in  the  same  way  as  the 
Greeks  measured  their  work  from  the  human  figure  downwards  throughout  their  architecture 
to  their  vases  and  even  to  their  common  utensils.  For  example,  if  one  has  a piece  of  red 
on  the  left-hand  side  of  the  composition,  it  is  compulsory  to  have  the  complementary  on  the 
other  side  of  equal  displacement,  but  the  red  on  the  other  side  should  never  be  more  than 
half  the  displacement  of  that  on  the  left,  and  the  complementary  to  the  red  on  the  left-hand 
side  of  the  composition  should  be  equal  to  the  red  on  the  right,  and  this  must  go  on 
throughout  the  palette. 

With  regard  to  balance,  let  us,  for  argument’s  sake,  take  the  reds  again.  If  the  red  is 
of  one  value  on  the  left  side,  the  piece  that  balances  it  on  the  right  must  of  necessity  be  either 
darker  or  lighter,  and  it  is  only  as  they  dimmish  in  size  throughout  the  composition  that  their 
weight  of  colour  can  be  repeated. 


50 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


All  this  scientific  side  of  composition  must  be  definitely  settled,  and  the  value  and 
subtlety  of  the  various  colours  as  they  run  through  the  composition  definitely  fixed  before 
any  attention  is  really  given  to  subject,  because  it  is  only  by  this  method  of  approaching  the 
vyork  that  one  eliminates  that  dreadful  curse  to  mural  decoration  “ the  individual  figure  ” 
or  “ the  group  of  figures.”  When  these  values  of  weight  of  colour  are  joined  together  with 
carefully  considered  horizontals  and  verticals,  then  can  you  consider  your  figures  as 
individuals.  But  do  not  think  that  subject  is  altogether  ignored,  because  in  composing 
weights,  due  consideration  must  be  given  to  the  shapes  these  colours  take  in  their  bearing  on 
the  subject.  Therefore,  if  one  is  depicting  a tragedy,  colour  shapes  should  have  direct 
influence  on  your  subject.  One  could  not  in  this  case  have  the  red,  for  instance,  round  and 
easy  m form,  and  the  colours  that  have  a more  tranquil  effect  upon  the  mind  contained  in 
shapes  that  are  jagged  or  tragic.  The  composition  should  tell  the  story  or  subject  at  a distance 
from  which  it  is  impossible  to  distinguish  figures  or  any  detail.  In  another  part  I make 
reference  to  scale  of  sketch.  I think  the  reader  will  realise  what  I set  out  to  prove  v/hen 
considering  the  above  remarks,  because  it  is  obvious  that  a sketch  over  a certain  size  would 
necessitate  too  much  detail  to  give  true  effect  to  the  other  more  Important  factors. 

I have  tried  to  show  that  mural  decoration  should  be  a carefully  considered 
distribution  of  weight  of  tone  value  and  colour  distribution,  with  a very  strong  regard  for 
the  wall  surface,  a thorough  knowledge  of  scale  both  within  the  wall  surface  to  be  decorated 
and  also  m relation  to  surrounding  architectural  features.  Subject  comes  last. 

Nearly  all  artists  consider  that  decoration  is  merely  the  enlarging  of  easel  pictures. 
Even  those  who  talk  in  the  big  manner  about  decorative  qualities  really  in  their  hearts  think 
this  way.  I suppose  this  is  only  natural  : most  artists  are  intolerant,  especially  when  it 
comes  to  accepting,  or  even  understanding,  that  which,  because  of  a lack  of  appreciation  of 
the  difficulties  of  the  problem,  does  not  exactly  fit  m with  their  outlook. 

This  applies  more  particularly  to  the  easel  painter  in  his  attitude  to  the  mural  decorator. 
Even  the  men  who  consider  themselves  decorative  picture  painters  do  not  really  appreciate 
the  problem  set,  I’.e.,  the  real  decoration — and  after  a short  conversation  one  finds  that  they 
do  not  understand  balance  of  composition,  the  necessity  of  simplicity  of  action  in  figures, 
or  groups  of  figures,  and  flatness  of  treatment.  Their  habit  of  painting  what  they  like,  how 
they  like,  without  having  to  bother  their  heads  as  to  the  surroundings  and  place  their  work 
is  to  go  into,  naturally  does  not  fit  them  for  decorators. 

Do  not  think  that  I am  in  any  way  running  down  the  easel  painter.  I am  only  trying 
to  prove  that  a painter  of  easel  pictures  is  not  necessarily  a decorator — usually  far  from  it — 
and  to  show  that  the  study  of  mural  decoration  is  a far  more  complex  study  than  most  think. 
Students  who  Intend  to  take  up  this  form  of  art  as  their  profession  must  study  it  right  through 
from  the  beginning,  otherwise  we  shall  continue  to  have  thrust  upon  us  ridiculous  things, 
like  the  Royal  Exchange  paintings,  and  those  that  fill  public  buildings  in  Pans  and  many 
cities  of  Europe  and  America.  Ridiculous,  I say  advisedly — you  cannot  call  them  anything 
else. 


IV. 


51 


RT  Education,  that  vexed  question  which  has  raised  and  always 
will  raise  the  most  bitter  argument,  is  far  too  great  a problem 
for  discussion  here.  Therefore  I intend  only  to  deal  with  it  in 
so  far  as  it  directly  affects  mural  decoration  and  the  mural 
decorator,  the  reason  why  the  mural  decorator  should  undergo 
a different  course  from  the  picture  painter,  and  the  curriculum 
such  a decoration  course  should  embrace. 

Architecture  is  a most  necessary  study,  but  should  be 
looked  at  from  not  quite  the  same  standpoint  as  in  the  case  of 
training  a student  to  become  an  architect,  but  rather  from  the 
side  of  a thorough  knowledge  of  scale  and  plan  reading. 

Scale  naturally  includes  for  the  decorator  proportion  and  weight,  both  of  colour  and  tone. 
This  study.  If  taken  by  the  student  separately,  must  lead  to  confusion  and  generally  ends  m 
understanding  scale  purely  as  architectural  dimensions  and  in  the  footrule.  But  if  this 
architectural  education,  or  course,  is  taken  with  the  rest  of  the  course  for  mural  decoration, 
no  confusion  is  possible,  because  the  student  will  very  shortly  realise  that  he  is  not  studying 
architecture  as  architecture,  but  as  a means  which  will  enable  him  more  easily  to  realise 
decoration  m its  setting  and  also  to  gam  a knowledge  and  understanding  of  the  architect’s  aim 
and  the  atmosphere  he  has  wished  to  convey.  This  is  certainly  a most  important  point,  and  it 
IS  only  by  a proper  course  of  architectural  study  that  a true  realisation  and  understanding 
of  the  architect’s  motive  that  mural  decoration  can  possibly  be  an  enrichment  of,  and  a gain 
to  his  general  scheme.  Otherwise  it  is  merely  so  much  painting  applied  with  no  relation  or 
sympathy  to  its  surroundings.  It  is  no  easy  matter  and  takes  much  patience,  perseverance 
and  time  for  students  to  grasp  thoroughly  that  their  work  m this  branch  of  art  has  always 
to  subordinate  itself  to  the  will  of  the  master  hand,  i.e.,  the  designer  of  the  building.  And  it 
IS  not  sufficient  excuse  to  make  a fine  work  of  art  as  a decoration,  if  that  fine  work  of  art  is 
out  of  sympathy  with  the  building. 

Plan  reading  is  more  difficult  and  much  more  tedious,  and  consequently  it  is  much  harder 
to  get  students  to  take  intelligent  and  sufficient  interest  in  it.  It  is  a dry  ]ob  and  students 
always  display  a tendency  to  regard  the  subject  as  a side-show.  As  a result,  one  generally 
finds  that  insufficient  attention  is  given  to  it,  but  when  a student  is  brought  to  understand  that 
the  decorator  should  be  able  to  realise  by  the  section  the  amount  of  shadow  and  therefore  weight 
of  colour  a certain  moulding  is  going  to  hold  ; that  it  is  essential  for  him  to  possess  the  ability 
to  look  at  the  budding  m perspective,  and  many  other  points  equally  important,  the  thing  is 
plain  sailing,  because  unless  these  habits  are  acquired  m studentship  days  it  becomes  very 
hard  work  to  acquire  them  afterwards  and  their  lack  is  always  apt  to  hamper  an  artist’s  sense 
of  realisation  and  proportion.  This  architectural  work  should  be  run  in  conjunction  with  life 
drawing  and  painting  as  well  as  study  of  composition.  But  all  life  painting  and  drawing  must 
be  set  up  on  the  canvas  or  paper  with  a due  regard  to  the  proportion  of  the  canvas  or  paper, 
and  placed  on  it  as  a decorative  composition,  as  it  is  only  by  this  constant  use  of  composition 
and  its  bearing  on  every  detail  of  other  branches  of  study  that  a thorough  appreciation  of  this 


52 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


vast  and  difficult  problem  can  be  appreciated.  For  a decorator’s  education,  the  more  detail 
that  fie  puts  into  fiis  fife  drawing,  tfie  better.  Tfie  reason  for  tfiis  ! will  give  later.  With  fife 
painting  it  is  different,  because  it  has  a closer  relation  to  tfie  finished  mural  work,  and  therefore 
should  have  and  must  have  a closer  bearing  on  it  ; fife  painting  as  a study  of  broad  effect  and 
simple  decorative  masses,  is  a far  more  useful  part  of  a decorator’s  education  than  the  study 
tfie  usual  art  school  fife  student  is  called  upon  to  assimilate.  It  must  never  be  forgotten,  of 
course,  that  the  figure  should  be  beautifully  placed  on  tfie  canvas,  and  also  that  tfie  study 
should  be  put  up  as  a decorative  composition.  With  tfie  model  so  arranged,  tfie  decorative 
effect  can  be  easily  put  back  after  each  rest.  Much  time  should  be  spent  by  students  in 
arranging  models,  as  it  is  of  great  educational  value  to  acquire  a thorough  knowledge  of  how 
to  make  tfie  most  use  of  tfie  material  at  one’s  disposal.  It  is  this  ability  to  handle  and  tfie 
habit  of  handling  all  studio  properties  that  must  be  acquired  from  tfie  very  earliest  ; m fact  the 
sooner  a student  begins  to  work  upon  tfie  school  studies  as  though  fie  were  in  fiis  own  studio, 
and  not  m a class  room,  tfie  sooner  fie  will  be  fitted  to  take  fiis  proper  place  in  tfie  world  of 
art.  I am  most  emphatic  on  this,  as  when  I look  back  on  my  student  days  and  realise  that  we 
were  never  even  allowed  to  see  tfie  model  put  up,  had  no  conception  of  the  difficulties  of 
arrangement  or  studio  management,  and  that  we  were  sent  out  into  the  world  with  only  a 
certain  knowledge  of  painting  technique,  I shudder  to  contemplate  tfie  utter  criminal  folly 
of  such  an  education. 

I think  we  can  safely  go  straight  on  now  to  figure,  and  its  bearing  upon  that  part  of  art 
education  I have  already  dealt  with. 

I always  think  it  is  better  for  all  elementary  students  to  carry  out  their  first  figure 
compositions  in  a monochrome,  as  dealing  with  too  many  problems  at  once  is  confusing,  and 
the  monochrome  is  better  m chalk  and  charcoal  on  either  a toned  paper  or  brown  paper. 
In  this  way,  starting  with  a toned  surface,  it  is  comparatively  easy  to  procure  a good  arrange- 
ment of  darks  with  a carefully  spotted  placing  of  small  fights  upon  it.  When  this  is  thoroughly 
mastered,  tfie  light  should  be  made  to  occupy  the  greater  proportion  upon  the  field  of  half-tones, 
and  the  darker  dotted  through,  and  the  same  applies  to  the  white  field  and  dark  field.  These 
problems  being  thoroughly  understood,  translate  some  of  them  into  colour,  but  only  as 
impressions  or  blots,  and  not  as  detail  of  any  sort,  because  this  detail  comes  when  the 
composition  is  taken  a stage  further — the  small  cartoon  stage.  These  early  sketches  for 
composition,  I should  have  said,  must  have  some  definite  aim  and  can  very  well  be  ideas  for  some 
of  the  spaces  m the  student’s  architectural  designs,  thus  making  the  work  of  practical  interest. 

Taking  up  the  composition  m its  usual  stage  by  small  cartoon  drawn  m panel,  one  sees 
that  it  IS  m this  stage  that  attention  can  be  paid  to  subject  in  its  relation  to  individual  figures 
or  groups  of  figures,  as  in  earlier  stages  the  connection  subject  has  with  composition  is  its 
bearing  on  the  shapes  of  masses  of  tone  value — and  in  the  later  stages  of  development  of  a 
composition  subject  enters  yet  more  intimately  into  all  the  details. 

But  let  us  get  back  to  the  evolution  of  the  mural  decoration  ; we  have  now  passed  what 
may  be  termed  the  three  initial  stages — the  first  impression,  the  colour  blot,  the  small  cartoon. 
Then  we  come  to  the  colour  sketch  to  scale. 


V. 


53 


HE  colour  sketch  for  a mural  decoration  should  never  be  more 
than  an  inch  and  a half  scale  and  ought  not  to  be  more  than 
an  impression  of  what  one  wants  the  work  to  be,  the  broad 
masses  of  composition  of  colour  value,  tone  and  rhythm  of 
line.  It  IS  this  first  impression  that  is  so  immensely  valuable 
and  IS  a thing  that  m carrying  out  the  large  work  you  will  refer 
to  again  and  again.  Now,  if  the  sketch  is  big,  say  six  or  even 
three  inches  to  the  foot,  it  becomes  a decoration  m itself,  and 
therefore  requires  elaboration  of  detail  and  such  elaboration 
of  detail  will  become  too  small  when  the  decoration  is  enlarged. 
Moreover,  disregarding  these  important  considerations  ; m so  large  scale  a sketch,  one  is 
doing  the  work  twice  over  and  will  arrive  at  the  full  size  work  stale.  I think  this  is  sound 
advice  ; inch  and  a half  scale  is  easy  to  work  to,  as  the  sketches  never  become  too  big  to  treat 
as  impressions.  I had  the  honour,  years  ago— about  1900  I think  it  was — of  being  taken  to 
the  studio  of  Pavis  de  Chavanne  to  show  him  some  sketches,  and  the  first  thing  that  great 
artist  asked  was  “ What  IS  the  scale  ? ” and  I was  interested  to  find  that  all  his  first  impressions 
were  to  a scale  practically  the  same  as  that  in  which  I was  working,  and  his  reasons  for  making 
them  to  that  scale  were  the  same  as  I have  given. 

The  next  step  is  the  cartoon,  and  the  studies  for  the  cartoon.  At  this  stage,  detail  really 
comes  by  its  own,  as  it  is  m the  cartoon  that  one  must  put  everything  that  is  to  go  into  the 
finished  work.  • If  finally  you  find  you  have  more  than  you  want,  it  is  easy  enough  to  dispense 
with  whatever  is  superfluous  ; therefore  it  stands  to  reason  that  it  is  better  to  have  too  much 
rather  than  an  insufficiency,  and  the  same  applies  to  life  studies  ; this  not  only  for  this 
particular  reason,  but  also  because  of  the  fact  that  these  life  drawings  and  drapery  studies 
may  be  put  away  for  a considerable  time  between  making  them  and  using  them,  and  unless 
they  are  full  of  detail,  your  memory  will  not  be  sufficiently  refreshed  by  them  when  it  comes 
to  their  transference. 

I really  think  that  white  paper  is  best  for  cartooning.  I did  not  always  think  so,  I will 
readily  admit.  Indeed,  I did  a lot  of  work  on  brown,  with  red,/  white  and  black  chalk,  but 
this  IS  a long  task  and  I am  not  sure  that  it  is  so  satisfactory  as  white.  White  paper  should 
be  used,  and  the  subject  drawn  upon  it  with  charcoal,  and  no  trouble  should  be  saved  to  make 
this  cartoon  as  perfect  as  is  humanly  possible,  for  it  is  here  that  all  experiments  can  be  made  ; 
it  is  here  that  all  wild  suggestions  for  improvement  can  be  tried  ; and  in  fact  it  is  here  that 
the  enthusiast  can  indulge  himself  to  his  heart’s  delight. 

But  woe  be  it  to  him  who  plays  pranks  and  attempts  big  alterations  on  the  finished 
decoration.  Even  if  it  is  on  canvas  it  is  no  easy  matter  ; of  course  if  the  work  is  on  a hard 
distemper  ground  like  “ Deresco  ” it  can  be  scraped,  but  this  is  a laborious  task — otherwise 
you  have  to  remove  the  whole  thing,  which  won’t  do  the  canvas  any  good. 

Well,  as  I have  drifted  into  the  finished  work  I had  better  go  right  on,  though  there  is  not 
much  to  say  about  it.  All  the  work  that  counts  has  now  been  done  ; the  rest  is  only  a little 
better  than  manual  labour.  Still,  it  is  hard  work,  paint  pushing  on  a large  scale,  especially 


54 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


if  you  are  using  stiff  wax  on  a rough  ground.  There  is  one  point  that  I wish  to  lay  emphasis 
upon,  VIZ.,  the  necessity  of  having  sufficient  colour  mixed  to  cover  the  space,  as  it  makes  so 
much  difference  m keeping  the  surface  of  the  wall.  Be  very  careful  that  your  cartoon  is 
accurately  traced  on  the  canvas  after  it  has  been  squared  up  and  the  canvas  squared,  as  by 
this  means  you  are  certain  to  get  every  detail  in  its  proper  place  ; in  fact,  every  mechanical 
device  that  can  be  used,  should  be  used,  to  keep  the  drawing  right — even  a net  with  its  mesh 
of  the  same  size  as  that  on  the  cartoon,  may  be  a help — because  all  decorators  must  remember 
that  the  nearer  they  get  to  doing  their  finished  work  in  one  painting,  the  better  it  will  be  as 
decoration  and  the  more  chance  they  will  have  of  preserving  the  wall  surface.  This  especially 
applies  to  working  on  canvas  away  from  the  wall. 

In  designing  figure  compositions  it  is  very  often  useful  to  model  the  figures  and  group 
them  together  as  they  are  wanted,  drawing  from  this  little  crowd  of  people.  The  group  can 
be  lighted  with  a candle  or  electric  light — though  it  will  be  necessary  to  flatten  down  the 
light  and  shade,  otherwise  this  will  be  too  strong  when  the  drawings  are  used  on  the  inch  and 
half  scale  colour  sketch.  These  little  figures  do  not  require  to  be  more  than  about  three 
inches  and  of  course  do  not  require  a very  deep  knowledge  of  modelling  to  make.  Some 
artists  cut  figures  out  in  paper  and  place  them  on  their  composition,  but  1 do  not  think  this 
gives  quite  as  satisfactory  a result  as  the  little  dolls.  Drapery  can  be  put  on  them  by  rolling 
out  wax  with  a rolling  pm  until  it  becomes  quite  thin  enough  to  fall  into  folds,  or  with  bits 
of  thin  stuff  dipped  into  clay  water  which  will  become  stiff  and  hard  m quite  a short  time, 
thus  enabling  one  to  erect  flying  drapery  of  a most  realistic  kind. 

Cutting  the  figures  out  in  cardboard  and  placing  them  upon  the  stage  in  the  position 
required  is  a favourite  way  with  some  artists,  but  to  do  this  properly  one  must  be  certain  of 
the  pose  of  the  figures  and  design  of  drapery  before  they  are  actually  cut  out ; there  is  a slight 
vagueness  that  comes  from  the  clay  or  wax  dolls  can  be  of  great  service  as  suggestion.  In 
reality  all  the  devices  are  good  so  long  as  they  serve  their  purpose.  They  are  all  as  old  as 
the  hills.  Veronez  used  the  wax  dolls,  and  some  of  his  little  stages  are  still  m existence  I 
remember  seeing  one  of  them  with  a part  burned  where  the  candle  had  fallen  down. 
To-day,  with  electric  light  to  help,  what  fun  one  can  have — little  bits  of  coloured  glass  and 
one  has  a colour  scheme  ready  made.  I have  done  this  often  with  really  good  results. 

These  model  stages  can  be  put  to  two  very  good  uses.  They  can  be  used  as  models 
either  for  the  drawing  of  light  and  shade,  or  for  the  drawing  of  line  composition.  I think 
really  they  are  more  useful  as  models  for  light  and  shade  because,  if  too  much  reliance  is  placed 
upon  them  for  line  composition,  one  really  comes  to  rely  upon  them  for  the  composition,  which 
IS  wrong,  as  your  composition  should  be  the  outcome  of  your  mind  s interpretation  ; and  all 
devices  from  life  drawing  down  to  media-making  or  anything  else  are  only,  and  can  only  be 
a means  to  assist  the  artist  to  express  himself.  Therefore  let  me  warn  the  student  to  avoid 
the  danger  of  using  these  little  stages  instead  of  his  mind. 


VI. 


55 


N the  limited  space  I have  touched  upon  figure  composition 
only  lightly.  I am  afraid  I must  give  only  a short  space  to 
students  and  art  teaching. 

There  are  not  many  Art  teachers  ; but  there  are  a good 
many  very  good  drawing  masters.  It  is  quite  a common 
species.  I believe  that  most  people  can  be  taught  to  draw, 
but  to  teach  good  taste  or  to  teach  a student  to  be  an  artist 
IS  not  so  easy.  Good  taste  has  not  so  many  difficulties  because 
there  are  a few  well-known  processes  or  formulas  through  which 
the  student  can  be  put.  The  one  most  common  in  early  days — 
that  of  making  it  difficult  for  the  student  to  see  too  much  of  that  which  was  good,  so  as  to 
make  him  more  appreciative  of  the  good — may  have  been  all  right,  but  could  one  command 
so  much  obedience  from  young  students  to-day  ? A theory  like  this  would  be  all  right  in  an 
art  school  on  a desert  island. 

Thoroughly  impress  a student  with  the  sense  of  scale  and  one  has  gone  a long  way  towards 
laying  the  foundation  stone  of  good  taste  m that  young  mind.  It  is  scale,  scale,  always  scale. 
He  cannot  understand  this  by  going  to  Technical  Institutions — which  is  what  all  our  Art  Schools 
throughout  the  country  are  to-day  ; he  can  only  learn  it  by  Art  education — by  the  education  of 
the  mind  in  Art.  Every  mind  has  stored  away  in  it  somewhere  a sense  of  refinement,  and  the 
surest  way  to  stifle  that  refinement  is  to  stuff  it  full  of  technique.  By  doing  that  there  is 
created  merely  an  easy  method  of  production,  which  takes  the  place  of  creation. 

A certain  amount  of  technical  education  carried  on  during  the  Art  education  of  a student 
is  essential  : drawing  from  life,  painting  from  life  with  studies  of  figure  composition,  and  in 
after  years  drawing  and  painting  from  the  antique  and  still-hfe  painting.  This  last  study 
should  not  be  taken  in  hand  until  much  painting  and  drawing  from  life  has  been  done.  Still- 
life  painting  is  most  dangerously  apt  to  stagnate  the  mind  as  it  creates  an  academic  stiffness 
that  is  most  difficult  to  eradicate. 

All  studies,  no  matter  what  they  are,  must  be  carefully  placed  on  the  paper  or  canvas,  as 
it  is  just  as  essential  to  have  a life  study  well  placed  as  any  figure  in  a composition  ; besides 
which,  care  in  this  matter  teaches  and  encourages  the  habit  of  good  proportion  and  distribution 
of  spaces. 

I have  always  insisted  on  students  carrying  out  their  own  ideas,  giving  of  course  an 
architectural  problem,  i.e.,  a frieze  for  a lecture-theatre.  In  this  way,  one  complies  with 
conditions  as  they  are  found  in  professional  life,  because  it  is  usual  for  an  architect  to  come 
to  the  artist  with  a space  to  decorate  in  the  lecture-theatre  of  his  building,  expecting  the  artist, 
and  rightly  too,  to  give  him  a suitable  subject  as  well  as  a suitable  decoration  for  such  a place. 
Therefore  it  is  a great  mistake  to  give  students  their  subject  as  well  as  the  space  to  be  dealt  with, 
because  it  deprives  them  of  making  use  of  their  power  of  selection,  and  tends  to  render  them 
hopelessly  at  sea  when  they  go  out  in  the  world  and  have  to  stand  on  their  own  feet.  It  is  the 
old  business  of  spoon  feeding  which  has  been  unfortunately  in  existence  for  generations  and 


56 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


which  leads  to  that  helpless  feeling  of  not  knowing  what  to  do  with  which  too  many  young 
people  are  familiar  who  have  not  been  allowed  any  voice  m selection  during  their  studentship. 

And  this  brings  us  to  a point  where  I know  I will  be  heartily  disagreed  with  by  many, 
by,  I should  say,  nearly  all  teachers  m Art  Schools.  I consider  that  students  should  have  control 
of  the  school  in  so  far  as  selection  goes,  selection  of  models,  posing  the  models,  selection 
of  composition,  and  what  is  more  important,  selection  of  subject.  It  is  quite  ridiculous  that 
the  head  of  a school  should  place  himself  on  a pedestal  before  students  posing  to  them  as  a 
little  tin  god,  selecting  everything  for  them  and  strutting  about  in  that  tinpot  way.  I can 
imagine  no  method  more  likely  to  destroy  any  confidence  they  may  have  m themselves  or  to 
kill  all  desire  to  produce.  The  more  students  are  left  to  themselves,  up  to  a point,  the  better 
for  them.  The  art  teacher  has  more  chance  of  finding  out  what  they  can  do  and  what  they 
want  to  do. 


VII. 


57 


HE  old  saying  “ Art  is  a hard  mistress,”  is  very  true.  I think 
decorative  art  is  a far  harder  mistress  than  what  is  generally 
accepted  as  art,  but  with  all  the  hard  knocks  and  setbacks, 
all  the  bitter  disappointments  experienced,  who  have  set  out 
upon  this  road  of  life  who  would  wish  to  retrace  their 
steps  ? Very  few. 

The  creation  of  a School  of  English  Decorative  Art  that 
will  rank  with  such  acknowledged  English  Schools  as  landstape 
and  portraiture  is  an  accomplished  fact,  and  I feel  that  the 
Mural  and  Decorative  School  of  the  Royal  College  of  Art, 
over  which  I have  presided  for  the  last  twenty  years,  has  had  no  small  part  m that  creation. 

This  building  up  is  a slow  process  and  those  who  are  impatient  and  those  who  have  no 
real  understanding  or  sympathy  with  the  movement,  refuse  to  see,  or  do  not  see  the  slow 
evolution.  Nevertheless  the  demand  is  in  the  air,  and  though  one  sees  much  that  is  called 
decoration,  which  has  no  claim  to  that  distinction  because  it  is  tainted  with  easel  picture  faults, 
this  is  no  reason  to  condemn  real  decoration  and  those  few  enthusiasts  who  understand  it. 
Unfortunately,  there  is  always  this  confusion  of  the  public  mind  with  regard  to  decorative 
art,  caused  by  the  loud  talking  of  those  who  feel  they  will  never  be  in  the  movement  by  their 
brush  so  endeavour  to  get  there  by  tub  thumping  ; but  after  all,  is  not  every  good  movement 
open  to  this  danger  of  being  pitched  into  a state  of  chaos  through  the  fear  of  the  few  who  do 
not  understand  it  ? 

The  critic,  the  educationalist,  the  lover  of  art  and  the  art  tradesman  all  gabble  on  about 
the  slow  development  of  Italian  Schools,  and  eternally  wonder  why  there  is  not  such  a system 
in  England  to-day.  There  is,  there  would  be  if  all  these  people  and  those  m authority  over 
Art  education  would  give  Art  education  a chance  of  development,  if  they  would  cease 
interfering  with  it  and  continually  throwing  it  into  the  melting  pot.  They  are  exactly  like  so 
many  children  who  continually  dig  up  the  seeds  in  their  gardens  to  see  if  they  are  growing. 
It  is  all  so  stupid  and  wasteful,  not  only  in  money,  but  in  what  is  more  serious,  effort  and 
energy.  Who  was  it  who  said  : ” The  young  mind  counts  energy  before  wealth  ” ? And 
how  true  it  is.  Who  of  us  ever  count  the  cost  if  the  effort  we  are  putting  forth  in  our 
enthusiasm  to  produce  justifies  the  energy  ? 

This  waste  depresses  the  young  mind  in  art  and  has  much  1o  do  with  sapping  the  energy 
and  vitality  of  Art  teaching.  No  effort  is  justifiable  if  that  effort  is  to  be  questioned  after  a 
short  experience.  Many  of  the  Italian  Schools  lasted  several  generations,  and  the  handing  down 
of  that  tradition  was  ever  so  carefully  considered  so  as  to  avoid  any  break.  The  result  of  this 
certainly  was  that  although  the  hand  gained  an  excellency  of  draftsmanship,  the  hand  was 
never  allowed  to  dominate  the  mind.  Smart  drawing  and  excellent  brush  handling  are  only 
the  A B C of  art,  but  to  be  used  properly  must  have  something  to  express  ; therefore  the 
education  of  the  mind  is  really  more  essential  than  that  of  the  hand.  Art  has  always  been 
swayed  by  these  two  great  questions,  domination  of  the  mind  and  the  teaching  of  efficiency. 
The  motto  of  the  former  : “ It  does  not  so  much  matter  how  you  say  it  so  long  as  you  have 


58 


SOME  NOTES  AND  THOUGHTS  ON  DECORATIVE  ART 


something  to  say.  ’ And  of  the  latter  ; “ It  does  not  so  much  matter  what  you  say  so  long  as 
you  say  it  well.” 

At  the  present  moment,  technique  has  the  best  of  it,  but  it  is  only  because  one  or  two 
younger  people  have  learned  to  draw  and  have  nothing  to  say,  and  the  dilettante  from  the 
Foreign  Office  collects  their  drawings  in  Bond  Street  at  great  expense.  But  it  is  only  a passing 
phase  ; the  mind  will  dominate  in  the  end. 

I feel  there  is  ever  so  much  I would  have  liked  to  have  said,  but  find  it  so  difficult  to 
express  myself,  so  I trust  that  m reading  these  few  pages — that  is  if  you  do  read  them — that 
you  will  be  patient  with  me,  forgive  the  bad  style,  the  bad  grammar,  in  fact  the  bad  everything, 
and  remember  that  it  is  a few  words  on  decorative  painting  by  a professional  decorator  but 
by  a very  amateurish  writer. 


N 


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